A liberal judge just handed Florida families one slap in the face that will leave parents seething

 Florida parents thought they’d finally won the fight to protect their children from inappropriate content in school libraries.

They trusted Governor Ron DeSantis to keep his promise about parental rights.

But a liberal judge just handed Florida families one slap in the face that will leave parents seething.

Federal judge guts parental protection law

Federal District Court Judge Carlos Mendoza struck down key portions of Florida’s House Bill 1069 this week – a law that gave parents the power to challenge inappropriate books in their children’s school libraries.

The 2023 law, signed by Governor DeSantis, forced school districts to pull challenged books from shelves within five days and keep them unavailable during the review process for potentially harmful content.

Parents across Florida celebrated when the law passed because it finally gave them a voice in what their tax dollars were funding in school libraries.

But Judge Mendoza ruled that the law’s focus on books that “describe sexual content” is “overbroad” and “unconstitutional.”

The judge’s 50-page ruling specifically targeted the section of the law that addresses books containing descriptions of sexual conduct.

“By enacting HB 1069, the Florida legislature sought to prohibit material from entering or remaining in school libraries that is not obscene for minors,” Mendoza wrote in his Wednesday ruling.

But then he proceeded to gut the very protections parents fought for.

The lawsuit was filed by multiple publishing companies, Florida parents, and authors who opposed giving parents more control over their children’s education.

These are the same radical leftist organizations that have been pushing woke ideology into classrooms for years.

Judge claims classic literature was wrongly banned

Mendoza listed several books that were removed under the law, claiming none of them were actually obscene.

His list included “The Color Purple,” “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Slaughterhouse-Five,” “Beloved,” and “The Kite Runner.”

“None of these books are obscene,” the judge declared.

But that misses the entire point of what concerned parents were fighting for.

Parents weren’t necessarily claiming these books were legally obscene under strict legal definitions.

They were saying these books contain content that they – as parents – don’t believe is appropriate for their children to access at school.

The judge wrote that the law “mandates the removal of books that contain even a single reference to the prohibited subject matter, regardless of the holistic value of the book individually or as part of a larger collection.”

He rejected conservatives’ argument that school libraries represent “government speech” that can be regulated by elected officials and parents.

Instead, Mendoza claimed that “slapping the label of government speech on book removals only serves to stifle the disfavored viewpoints.”

This is exactly the kind of judicial activism that conservatives have warned about for decades.

A single unelected judge is now overruling the will of Florida voters who elected DeSantis specifically to clean up the education system.

Publishing companies celebrate their victory over parents

The Authors’ Guild, which represents more than 16,000 members and was a plaintiff in the lawsuit, called the ruling “a sweeping victory for readers and authors.”

But it’s really a victory for the publishing industry over concerned parents.

Dan Novack, a vice president and associate general counsel for Penguin Random House, called the ruling “a total knockout.”

“If a district did not put the books back, then they are risking a lawsuit,” Novack threatened.

So now school districts face lawsuits if they listen to parents instead of publishing companies.

The lawsuit was filed by six major publishing companies: Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins Publishers, Macmillan Publishers, Hachette Book Group, and Sourcebooks.

These are billion-dollar corporations that make their money selling books – including to school libraries.

They have a direct financial interest in preventing parents from having any say in what books their tax dollars purchase.

Stephana Ferrell with the Florida Freedom to Read Project – another radical leftist organization – explained that the ruling blocks the state from “censoring a book without considering the work in its totality.”

“This is a huge win for Floridians, right? Our students have First Amendment rights,” Ferrell claimed.

But what about parents’ rights to direct their children’s education?

DeSantis vows to fight back

Governor DeSantis immediately vowed to appeal the ruling.

“There is no basis to say that the public can’t enact laws to keep pornographic material out of these schools,” DeSantis said. “The reality is, this is an agenda that they’re trying to jam into our schools.”

The Florida Department of Education also promised to continue the fight.

“We remain unwavering in our commitment to defending parental rights and protecting children from exposure to inappropriate content,” an FDOE spokesperson said. “This is a fight we are determined to win, no matter how hard the activists work to try to stop us.”

The case will now head to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, where the state will likely ask for this week’s ruling to be blocked while the appeal proceeds.

But the damage is already being done.

School districts across Florida are now confused about what they can and cannot do.

Both St. Johns and Clay County school districts told reporters they haven’t received guidance from the state about how to proceed.

Ferrell argued that at minimum, the 23 books specifically named in the judge’s ruling should be immediately restored to school libraries.

Among them are books that the state had declared pornographic and banned statewide back in June.

Novack from Penguin Random House scoffed at parents’ concerns, claiming kids today aren’t going to libraries for inappropriate material because “they are just going on their smartphones.”

That completely misses the point that taxpayer-funded schools shouldn’t be providing inappropriate content regardless of what kids can access elsewhere.

This is part of a coordinated nationwide attack

This ruling isn’t happening in isolation.

Novack admitted that the publishing companies have won a similar lawsuit in Iowa and are awaiting a decision in Idaho.

This is a coordinated attack by billion-dollar publishing companies against parental rights across the country.

They’re using activist judges to overturn laws that were passed by elected representatives responding to parents’ concerns.

The same radical leftist organizations pushing critical race theory and gender ideology in schools are now using the courts to prevent parents from having any say in their children’s education.

Judge Mendoza’s ruling perfectly illustrates how the Left operates.

When they can’t win at the ballot box, they run to activist judges who will impose their agenda from the bench.

Florida parents voted for DeSantis specifically because he promised to clean up the schools and protect parental rights.

But now a single federal judge is overruling the will of millions of Florida voters.

This is exactly why judicial reform is so desperately needed.

Parents shouldn’t have to fight billion-dollar corporations and activist judges just to have a voice in their children’s education.

The fight for parental rights is far from over, but this ruling shows just how determined the Left is to keep parents out of their children’s education.

¹ Ja’han Jones, “Federal judge guts major portion of Florida’s book ban, in a blow to DeSantis,” NBC News, August 15, 2025.

² Jake Stofan, “Ruling could lead to new reviews of books previously removed from school library shelves,” Action News Jax, August 15, 2025.

³ Mariaregina Mendoza, “Florida judge halts part of book ban law, impacting school libraries,” WINK News, August 15, 2025.

⁴ Gabrielle Russon, “Judge’s Florida book ban decision is a ‘total knockout’ in censorship fight, lawyer says,” Florida Phoenix, August 16, 2025.