Avid v. Taylor – Protecting local bookshop’s First Amendment right to communicate with jail residents

Avid, an independent bookseller located in Athens, Georgia, has a protected First Amendment right to communicate with residents at the jail. But under current policy, books shipped by Avid or other independent independent bookstores are rejected for not being sent by an “authorized retailer” approved by the jail.

Gwinnett County officials claim the “authorized retailer” policy is necessary to avoid the introduction of contraband or secretive communications into the facility. But the policy has no criteria or standards for designating authorized retailers and no process for booksellers to apply to become one. According to Gwinnett County Sheriff Keybo Taylor, only Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Books A Million have ever been designated as “authorized retailers” under the Jail’s policy, although documents produced by the Jail show that this policy is inconsistently enforced.

On behalf of Avid, the Clinic and co-counsel Zack Greenamyre, assert that the jail’s policy is an unreasonable and arbitrary restriction under the First Amendment and is unconstitutionally vague under the Fourteenth Amendment.

In November 2024, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia denied the Gwinnett County defendants’ motion to dismiss the complaint, ruling that Avid’s First and Fourteenth Amendment claims may go forward. The case is now in discovery.

To date, this matter has been advanced by students Eric Pruitt, Adoris Gibbs, Alex Klein, Madi Blair, Alex Cross, Patrick Johnson, Ellie Wilson-Wade, and Clinic fellows Christina Lee, Urub Khawaja, Allyson Veile and Ashley Fox, all working under the supervision of Clinic director Clare R. Norins.

Related news reports: Law360, Georgia Public Broadcasting, Atlanta News First, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Fox 5 Atlanta