PEN America decries Supreme Court nonaction on book-ban case

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear a case involving book bans, a move that PEN America says leaves a lower court ruling in place that, in effect, allows state and local governments to tell people, “What they can and cannot read.” The case, Little v. Llano County, challenged book removals from the Llano County public library. “The government has no place telling people what they can and cannot read,” says Elly Brinkley, staff attorney for U.S. Free Expression Program. The ruling “erodes the most elemental principle of free speech.” PEN recently noted a dramatic uptick in book bans during the 2024-25 school year.