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      Appeals court tells Texas it cannot ban books for mentioning ‘butt and fart’

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      An appellate court has ruled that Texas cannot ban books from libraries simply because they mention “butt and fart” and other content which some state officials may dislike.The fifth US circuit court of appeals issued its decision on Thursday in a 76-page majority opinion, which was written by Judge Jacques Wiener Jr and opened with a quote from American poet Walt Whitman: “The dirtiest book in all the world is the expurgated book.”In its decision, the appellate court declared that “government actors may not remove books from a public library with the intent to deprive patrons of access to ideas with which they disagree”.It added: “This court has declared that officials may not ‘remove books from school library shelves simply because they dislike the idea contained in those books and seek by their removal to prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion or other matters of opinion.’”The appellate court’s latest decision follows a federal lawsuit filed in 2022 by seven Llano county residents against county and library officials for restricting and removing books from its public circulation.The residents argued that the defendants violated their constitutional right to “access information and ideas” by removing 17 books based on their content and messages.Those books include seven “butt and fart” books with titles including I Broke My Butt! and Larry the Farting Leprechaun, four young adult books on sexuality, gender identity and dysphoria – including Being Jazz: My Life As a (Transgender) Teen – and two books on the history of racism in the US, among them Caste and They Called Themselves the KKK.Other books targeted by the ban were In the Night Kitchen, which contains cartoons of a naked child, as well as It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex and Sexual Health, according to court documents.The books were removed after parents complained, with library officials referring to the books as “pornographic filth”.In its majority decision, the overwhelmingly conservative appellate court ordered eight of the 17 books to be returned, including Being Jazz: My Life As a (Transgender) Teen, Caste and They Called Themselves the KKK.Wiener wrote how a dissenting opinion from the Donald Trump appointee Kyle Duncan “accuses us of becoming the ‘Library Police,’ citing a story by author Stephen King”.“But King, a well-known free speech activist, would surely be horrified to see how his words are being twisted in service of censorship,” wrote Wiener, whop was appointed during George HW Bush’s presidency.“Per King: ‘As a nation, we’ve been through too many fights to preserve our rights of free thought to let them go just because some prude with a highlighter doesn’t approve of them.’ Defendants and their highlighters are the true library police.”Wiener also said that “libraries must continuously review their collection to ensure that it is up to date” and engage in “removing outdated or duplicated materials … according to objective, neutral criteria”.In a report released last October, the American Library Association found that Texas made the most attempts in the US to ban or restrict books in 2022. In total, the state made 93 attempts to restrict access to more than 2,300 books.A wave of book banning has also emerged in Florida as part of the culture wars of the Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, on “wokeism,” a term meant to insult liberal values.In January, a Florida school district removed dictionaries, encyclopedias and other books because the texts included descriptions of “sexual conduct”.Meanwhile, in 2022, a Mississippi school district upheld the firing of an assistant principal after he read a humorous children’s book, I Need a New Butt, to his students. More

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      in Elections

      Days After Border Closes for Most Migrants, Manageable Crowds but More Anxiety

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      On a hot and humid morning in the Mexican border city of Reynosa, less than a mile from the Rio Grande, one question seemed to linger in the minds of hundreds of people who had arrived Saturday at a shelter for migrants.When would they be able to cross into the United States?The answer remained elusive. At least 1,100 men, women and children, a majority of them from Central America and Venezuela, had arrived at Senda de Vida, a sprawling respite center consisting of makeshift tents and temporary wooden rooms, with hopes of reaching the United States. Instead, many felt stuck in limbo after President Biden signed an executive order that prevents migrants from seeking asylum along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border when crossings surge.The order effectively closed the U.S. border for nearly all asylum seekers as of 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday.Jorge Gomez, 34, from Honduras, rested on Saturday near the U.S.-Mexico border.Paul Ratje for The New York TimesThe full effect of the new rule was difficult to assess three days after Mr. Biden’s announcement, but, as of Saturday, the number of migrants massing at the border showed signs of stabilizing, at least for now, compared with previous years, as many migrants appeared to be heeding the warning that they would be turned away, said Héctor Silva de Luna, a pastor who runs the shelter.During the height of the migration crisis, he welcomed more than 7,000 people, he said. Many now appear to be waiting in the interior of Mexico, in cities like Monterrey and Mexico City, to see what happens. But the migrants at the border like the ones at Mr. de Luna’s shelter are “the ones that will pay the price,” he said, because they are being rejected.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      San Diego Is Once Again a Top Migrant Entry Point

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      Asylum seekers from around the world are trying to enter the United States through California, and immigrant traffic there has reached its highest level in decades.From sunrise to sunset, the U.S. Border Patrol buses arrived every hour at a sunbaked parking lot in San Diego.Dozens of migrants stepped outside each time, many seeming to be confused about what was happening at this trolley hub on a recent weekend. There were no local officials to answer questions. No services. And few ways to reach their next destination in the United States.For the first time in 25 years, the San Diego region has become a top destination for migrants along the southern United States border, surpassing the number of illegal crossings at areas in Arizona and Texas for several weeks this year, according to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.It has been a surprising turn for a border spot that was the focal point of the bitter national debate over immigration decades ago, before falling out of the spotlight as migrant flows shifted eastward. The recent surge in San Diego has been overwhelming enough that a government-funded welcome center exhausted its budget and had to close in February. Since then, the United States Border Patrol has bused migrants to a trolley center and sent them on their way.After being dropped off at the Iris Avenue Transit Center, many of the migrants head to the San Diego International Airport or find shelter provided by churches or nonprofit organizations in the San Diego area.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      in Elections

      How Trump’s Most Loyal Supporters Are Responding to the Verdict

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      Many saw in the jury’s finding a rejection of themselves, of their values and even of democracy itself. The sense of grievance erupted as powerfully as the verdict itself.From the low hills of northwest Georgia to a veterans’ retreat in Alaska to suburban New Hampshire, the corners of conservative America resounded with anger over the New York jury’s declaration that former President Donald J. Trump was guilty.But their discontent was about more than the 34 felony counts that Mr. Trump was convicted on, which his supporters quickly dismissed as politically motivated.They saw in the jury’s finding a rejection of themselves, and the values they believed their nation should uphold. Broad swaths of liberal America may have found long-awaited justice in the trial’s outcome. But for many staunch Trump loyalists — people who for years have listened to and believed Mr. Trump’s baseless claims that the system is rigged against him, and them — the verdict on Thursday threatened to shatter their faith in democracy itself.“We are at that crossroads. The democracy that we have known and cherished in this nation is now threatened,” Franklin Graham, the evangelist, said in an interview from Alaska. “I’ve got 13 grandchildren. What kind of nation are we leaving them?”Echoing him was Marie Vast, 72, of West Palm Beach, Fla., near Mr. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home. “I know a lot of people who say they still believe in our government,” she said, “but when the Democrats can manipulate things this grossly, and use the legal system as a tool to get the outcome they want, the system isn’t working.”Among more than two dozen people interviewed across 10 states on Friday, the sentiments among conservatives were so strong that they echoed the worry and fear that many progressives described feeling after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade almost two years ago.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      in US Politics

      Moderate Texas Republican sees off primary challenge from ‘neo-Nazi’

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      Tony Gonzales, a moderate Texas Republican congressman, has narrowly beaten an insurgent primary challenge from an opponent he branded a neo-Nazi and was endorsed by the GOP’s far-right Freedom caucus.Gonzales, 43, scraped home by a wafer-thin margin of 50.7% to 49.3% in a runoff election against Brandon Herrera after a huge fundraising effort and the explicit backing of the Republican establishment, including the House speaker, Mike Johnson.The victory in a congressional district stretching from El Paso to San Antonio and spanning 800 miles of the US-Mexico border means Gonzales will be the party’s candidate in November’s general election against the Democrat Santos Limon, a contest the Republicans are expected to win comfortably following redistricting.It came after a vicious bout of infighting that saw Gonzales label some of his own party “scum” who he implied sympathised with the racist views of the Ku Klux Klan.He also condemned the often provocative public statements of Herrera, a gun rights advocate and social media star with 3.4 million followers on his YouTube channel.Herrera, who called himself “the AK guy” and acquired a reputation for making jokes about the Holocaust, autism and women, earned the support of the high-profile rightwing Florida congressman Matt Gaetz, as well as Bob Good, chair of the House Freedom caucus.Gonzales’s rightwing critics assailed him over moderate stances on the border and government spending. He was also censured by his own Texas Republican party for taking what they saw as excessively centrist positions.Gonzales, for his part, was scathing of his party opponents’ backing for Herrera, telling CNN: “It’s my absolute honour to be in Congress, but I serve with some real scumbags.“Bob Good endorsed my opponent, a known neo-Nazi. These people used to walk around with white hoods at night; now they are walking around with white hoods in the daytime.”Gonzales, a military veteran, also took offence to Herrera’s jibes about those who served in the armed forces after he joked: “I often think about putting a gun in my mouth, so I’m basically an honorary veteran.”Herrera justified his humour on his YouTube channel, saying he would show greater decorum in appropriate settings.“I do have a higher standard of demeanour when it comes to actual political discourse on things like, you know, Twitter. It’s all about knowing the time and place,” Herrera said. “It’s like you’ll swear in front of your drinking buddies, but not in front of your grandma. Unless your grandma is rad as shit.” More

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      in Elections

      Texas House Speaker Survives Challenge From Hard Right

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      The speaker of the Texas House, Dade Phelan, won renomination in a runoff on Tuesday, surviving a bruising Republican primary challenge from a party activist and first-time candidate who was backed by former President Donald J. Trump and his Texas supporters.The race, in a southeast Texas district that includes part of the city of Beaumont, was a bitter political showdown among some of the most powerful players in Texas politics, and was likely to have been one of the most expensive ever for a Texas House seat.Millions poured in to the campaigns during the primary, including large donations from West Texas oil and gas billionaires and out-of-state school-choice advocates who backed the challenger, David Covey. For his part, Mr. Phelan had help from deep-pocketed donors like Miriam Adelson, the Las Vegas casino magnate and widow of the Republican megadonor Sheldon Adelson.Mr. Covey, a technical adviser to the oil and gas industry who has described himself as a “very committed Christian and a conservative,” led Mr. Phelan in the first round of voting in March, when neither candidate won a majority.But during the runoff, Mr. Phelan rallied his supporters and campaign contributors, significantly out-raising his opponent through the middle of May.“We came this close,” Mr. Covey said in a speech to supporters in Orange, Texas. He added that even in defeat his campaign had started a movement.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Republican Navy Veteran Will Face Henry Cuellar in South Texas

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      Jay Furman, a retired Navy officer, has won the Republican nomination to challenge embattled Representative Henry Cuellar of South Texas in November, according to The Associated Press.Mr. Furman defeated his challenger, Lazaro Garza Jr., a rancher, in a runoff after the two emerged as the top vote-getters in a crowded March primary. Mr. Cuellar, a centrist Democrat, is still largely expected to win re-election in Texas’ 28th Congressional District. But the terrain has become somewhat more favorable for Republicans after Mr. Cuellar was indicted this month on federal bribery and money-laundering charges.Mr. Cuellar and his wife, Imelda Cuellar, are accused of accepting at least $598,000 over seven years from a Mexican bank and an oil company owned by the government of Azerbaijan, according to the federal indictment. He has denied any wrongdoing.In his district, which stretches from his hometown, Laredo, and the U.S. southern border to the eastern outskirts of San Antonio, Mr. Cuellar is considered an institution. He has powerful allies on both sides of the aisle and has survived two bruising Democratic primary contests. Even former President Donald J. Trump — who is on trial over allegations that he falsified business records — has come to his defense, arguing Mr. Cuellar became a target of the Biden administration because he supports tight border policies.Mr. Cuellar’s fund-raising efforts have dwarfed those of his Republican opponent. At the end of March, Mr. Cuellar had raised nearly $2 million and had more than $415,000 cash on hand. As of May, Mr. Furman had raised just under $195,500 and had roughly $2,013 cash on hand, according to the latest federal filings for each campaign.Still, Mr. Furman is betting the charges against Mr. Cuellar have improved his odds. The election forecasters Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball have both shifted their rating for the general election from likely Democratic to leans Democratic.Mr. Furman, who grew up in Austin and lives in San Antonio, served in the military for nearly 30 years before returning to Texas. Like Mr. Garza, he has made immigration central to his campaign. He echoes Mr. Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric and calls for hard-line actions, including mass deportations. On his website, he also has promised to tackle inflation, empower small businesses and block “‘woke’ insanity.”In an interview, Mr. Furman argued the charges against Mr. Cuellar were “exactly in line with what the people have come to expect of the Cuellar dynasty.” But he also echoed Mr. Trump in his criticism of the Justice Department, which he contended had been weaponized against conservatives.“My goal is not only to highlight his charges,” he said, “but also the arbitrary capricious enforcement of the law by our Department of Justice.” More

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      in Elections

      Tornado Devastates Arkansas Town

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      Rogers, Ark., was one of many places hit hard by the rash of storms over Memorial Day weekend across the South.Melisa Swearingen woke up early on Sunday morning as a tornado bore down on her home in the northwestern corner of Arkansas. As she raced down the stairs with her toddler, she looked out the window and saw a 40-foot tree falling toward the house.“The whole house was shaking like a roller coaster,” Ms. Swearingen said in an interview outside her home. “I thought, This was it.”But the tree smashed through a room above the family’s garage, giving her time to gather her 7-year-old son. As another tree crushed the other side of the home, she, her husband and their children huddled in a first-floor bedroom. “I thought the house would be torn open and we’d get suctioned up,” Ms. Swearingen, 35, said.Nearby, Byron Copeland, 38, had sent his wife, their three children and the family dogs to the basement, while he monitored the storm. Then came the terrifying booms of exploding electrical transformers. “I ran toward the basement like a little girl,” Mr. Copeland said. As they waited for the weather to pass, he said, the family sang the lullaby “Jesus Loves Me.”The Swearingens and the Copelands were among the millions of families whose lives were upended by the rash of tornadoes that ravaged parts of Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Kentucky over Memorial Day weekend. At least 23 people were killed, including eight people in Arkansas. Melisa Swearingen, second from left, stood amid debris being removed from her front yard on Monday.Melyssa St. Michael for The New York TimesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More