The Arkansas Advocate
A Central Arkansas librarian who was fired in 2023 over a dispute with local officials regarding library materials filed a federal lawsuit Monday against the county that fired her.
Saline County Judge Matt Brumley fired county library director Patty Hector in October 2023. The county governing body had given him the power to do so several weeks earlier via an ordinance. Hector was Saline County Library director for seven years, and her firing came after she spent months rebuffing pressure from elected officials to relocate certain books considered “inappropriate” for minors.
Hector’s complaint alleges that the defendants, Brumley and the Saline County Quorum Court, unconstitutionally used their executive and legislative power to retaliate against her.
“Hector’s termination, and the ordinance ensuring it, was punishment for her opposition to censorship,” wrote her attorneys, Jess Askew of the Kutak Rock law firm and John Williams of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas.
The complaint asks the court to determine that the defendants violated Hector’s First Amendment right to freedom of speech and that the ordinance used to fire her was an “unconstitutional bill of attainder” because it “was meant to ensure Hector’s termination.” A bill of attainder allows government officials to punish someone for a perceived crime without a trial.
Hector also seeks damages for emotional distress, back pay from the date of her firing to the date of the court’s eventual ruling and attorneys’ fees, among other things.
Williams said in an ACLU press release that Hector’s firing “send[s] a chilling message to public servants who dare to stand up for their values and the rights of their communities.”
“Standing up against censorship should never cost someone their job,” said Williams, the ACLU of Arkansas’ legal director. “Ms. Hector was fired for defending the right to read freely and for refusing to let political pressure dictate the operation of a public library. Retaliation against her for speaking out on these critical issues is not only unconstitutional — it’s an attack on the principles of free expression and access to information that public libraries stand for.”
Hector said in 2023 after her firing that she would seek legal action, and in 2024 she unsuccessfully ran for a seat on the Saline County Quorum Court.
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Fired library director sues Central Arkansas county, alleging retaliation and First Amendment breach