© 2024
Virginia's Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Judge tosses suit that tried to deem books obscene for kids

Amanda Darrow, director of youth, family and education programs at the Utah Pride Center, poses with books that have been the subject of complaints from parents in Salt Lake City. A judge in Virginia dismissed a lawsuit Tuesday that sought to declare two books as obscene for children and to restrict their distribution to minors, including by booksellers and libraries. The books in question were “Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe and “A Court of Mist and Fury” by Sarah J. Maas.
Rick Bowmer
/
AP
Amanda Darrow, director of youth, family and education programs at the Utah Pride Center, poses with books that have been the subject of complaints from parents in Salt Lake City. A judge in Virginia dismissed a lawsuit Tuesday that sought to declare two books as obscene for children and to restrict their distribution to minors, including by booksellers and libraries. The books in question were “Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe and “A Court of Mist and Fury” by Sarah J. Maas.

A judge in Virginia has dismissed a lawsuit that sought to declare two books as obscene for children and to restrict their distribution to minors by booksellers and libraries.

The books in question were “Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe and “A Court of Mist and Fury” by Sarah J. Maas. Both books describe or illustrate sexual acts that prompted the lawsuit.

A Virginia Beach Republican, Tommy Altman, had petitioned the court, saying the depicitions were inappropriate for children. The suit was filed in April and dismissed before it could proceed trial.

A judge struck down the suit on jurisdictional grounds, citing state law and the U.S. Constitution.

The Associated Press is one of the largest and most trusted sources of independent newsgathering, supplying a steady stream of news to its members, international subscribers and commercial customers. AP is neither privately owned nor government-funded; instead, it's a not-for-profit news cooperative owned by its American newspaper and broadcast members.