Former Sen. Jason Rapert failed several times to remove funding from libraries that have books he finds offensive. Rapert serves on the State Library Board. He came to the Friday meeting on zoom. At the meeting, he put forward several motions to withhold funding from libraries that have books that he classifies as “obscene or pornographic.”

“I am going to make this motion every single board meeting to suspend funds,” he said.

Rapert presented a list of books he found objectionable at the meeting. The titles included books with LGBTQ themes and characters like All Boys Aren't Blue and Gender Queer. Several other books are by the writer Ellen Hopkins. She writes novels written in poetry that deal with themes like teen sex and drug use. Rapert said he found the books on a website called “Take Back The Classroom.”

Jason Rapert fails to remove funding from some state libraries

*Arkansas Advocate/Screenshot From Court Documents*
Former Sen. Jason Rapert was not able to defund some state libaries.

KUAR | By Michael Tilley/ Talk Business & Politics

Arkansas Republican political leaders praised a likely U.S. Supreme Court decision ending abortion rights while decrying the leak of the court’s draft opinion. The state’s Democratic Party chair said taking away a constitutional right will not long succeed.

Politico reported late Monday the contents of a leaked 98-page draft opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito distributed to the other justices on Feb. 10. Alito wrote that “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,” a direct rebuttal of the legal precedent set by the court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision which granted abortion rights.

https://www.ualrpublicradio.org/local-regional-news/2022-05-03/roe-reversal-would-trigger-arkansas-anti-abortion-law