Dismissal of Case Seeking to Ban “Obscene” Book in Virginia
Secured the dismissal of a Virginia state court case seeking to ban the sale of a client’s book. A Virginia Beach General Assembly Delegate brought the action against our client and one of its authors, filed under a decades-old statue and alleging that the book – a memoir, told in graphic novel form, of the author’s own journey of realizing their nonbinary and asexual identity – was “obscene.” Argued that the statute was unconstitutional both facially and as-applied, and that the petition failed to state a claim under Virginia law. The Court agreed and found that the book could not be considered “obscene” under state law, as well as that the statute was unconstitutional in violation of due process and the First Amendment.
