Librarian, Citizens for a New Louisiana will go to court over defamation, harassment claim
A Livingston Parish librarian will have Lafayette conservative group Citizens for a New Louisiana and its director Michael Lunsford in court Tuesday over claims of defamation and harassment in Facebook posts.
Amanda Jones, a middle school librarian, filed suit on Aug. 10 against Lunsford, Citizens for a New Louisiana and Livingston Parish resident Ryan Thames, who runs the Bayou State of Mind Facebook page, alleging they targeted her in Facebook posts after a July 19 statement she made at a meeting of the Livingston Parish Library Board.
From there, Jones’ lawsuit says she became the subject of several defamatory Facebook posts by Lunsford and Thames, including one accusing her of “‘advocating’ for having erotica in the kids section.”
Jones' suit requested an immediate protection order to prohibit Lunsford and Thames from mentioning her on social media, contacting her and her employer, coming within 100 feet of her or her place of employment and requiring them to remove any mention of her from their existing social media posts.
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Twenty-first Judicial District Court Judge Erika Sledge, of Hammond, denied that request this week and set the matter for a hearing on Tuesday, Aug. 23 in Livingston Parish.
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Jones’ attorney did not respond to a request for comment Friday. Lunsford said Friday he had not been served notice of the suit and declined to comment.
Thames’ attorney Joseph Long said the judge’s decision not to grant a temporary order ahead of Tuesday’s hearing suggests Jones may have a hard case to make in court.
“They have to prove that they're entitled to (the protective order). They never alleged that my client was a physical threat to them. They just don't want to be criticized,” he said. “We're in America, and political discussion, debate and criticism is part of the First Amendment.”
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In an Aug. 12 post on the Citizens for a New Louisiana website, Lunsford pointed to “Let's Talk About It: The Teen's Guide to Sex, Relationships, and Being a Human” by Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan as questionable for its inclusion in the library’s young adults' section over sexual illustrations.
Lunsford has drawn attention over the past year for unsuccessfully challenging a pair of LGBTQ+ books at the Lafayette Parish Public Library, which ultimately led the library to integrate its teen section into the adult collection.
The Facebook posts at issue followed a discussion at the board's July 19 meeting about sexual content in books in the children's and young adults sections at the request of board member Erin Sandefur.
Sandefur pointed to “It Feels Good to Be Yourself: A Book About Gender Identity” by Theresa Thorn as one book of concern, but did not identify other titles on the list she created during the meeting.
The books at issue were not listed on the meeting’s agenda. Instead only a note that the board would consider “book content” was posted ahead of the meeting.
Jones, who does not work for the parish library system, spoke against censorship at that meeting, saying she feared board members would attempt to remove or relocate books that could help younger readers understand their sexual development.
“Nobody is putting pornography in the children’s sections of the library. Stop that false narrative,” she said.
“The librarians over the collection have library science degrees and use professional reviews, which list ages of relevancy and age appropriateness, before deciding where to place them in the library.”
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This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Louisiana librarian sues conservative group over 'erotica' claims
