On June 3 2025, the ACLU of Northern California and FAC sent a letter to the Fresno County Board of Supervisors demanding that they rescind Resolution No. 23-377, a “resolution establishing a ‘parents matter’ approach to reviewing age-appropriate children’s books in Fresno County libraries,” or face a lawsuit. FAC opposed the adoption of the resolution in November 2023 due to the unconstitutional censorship regime it would impose on the County’s libraries, including a committee to review library materials for “Age-Inappropriate Content.” The groups also wrote to the Board of Supervisors to request that it rescind the resolution for violating California’s recently enacted Freedom to Read Act in April 2025.
The County failed to rescind the resolution — or even respond to the last letter. Instead, Fresnoland reported that county spokesperson Sonja Dosti commented that “since appointments to the library book committee were never made the committee does not exist” and indicated that county officials might review inactive committees for the Board of Supervisors to dissolve, but “that process could be a few months away.”
Now, the ACLU and FAC have sent a final demand letter to make clear that the resolution — which serves as the County’s official policy and immediately bans “ready access to minors of books and other materials that contain Age-Inappropriate Content” — currently violates the Freedom to Read Act and imminently exposes the County to litigation if the Board of Supervisors fails to rescind it, even if the County never staffs the committee.
As the letter demands, the County must “commit to rescind the Resolution no later than June 26, 2025 to avoid needlessly wasting taxpayers’ money.”