On June 22, 2022, our clients—local bookstores Prince Books, Read Books, One More Page Books, and bbgb tales for kids, as well as American Booksellers for Free Expression, Association of American Publishers, Inc., Authors Guild, Inc., American Library Association, Virginia Library Association, and Freedom to Read Foundation—filed motions seeking to dismiss obscenity proceedings against two books, highlighting the unconstitutional nature of the proceedings and noting that the books are not obscene as a matter of law.

Two businesses owners in Tennessee are challenging a new, first-of-its-kind Tennessee law that would require businesses and other entities that open their facilities to the public and allow transgender people to use the restroom that matches their gender to post a government-prescribed warning sign. The ACLU and the ACLU of Tennessee filed the lawsuit in federal court and claim it violates the First Amendment rights of the business owners.

The ACLU and the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University filed a lawsuit on behalf of five former public servants challenging the government’s “prepublication review” system, which prohibits millions of current and former government employees from writing or speaking about topics related to their government service without first obtaining government approval.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri, joined by the National ACLU, filed a lawsuit challenging the Wentzville R-IV School District’s removal of eight critically-acclaimed library books that are by and about people of color, LGBTQ+ people, and other marginalized groups, as well as its policy requiring automatic removal of every book that any student, parent, or guardian formally objects to, regardless of the basis for or merits of that objection. 

For more than a decade, Boston has allowed nearly 300 private groups to temporarily fly their flags outside of City Hall. Did the city violate the First Amendment when it denied Camp Constitution’s request to fly its flag for a single hour because the flag has a religious symbol?