Huntington Beach’s move to tuck certain library books behind a “youth restricted” label is now coming with a hefty bill. An Orange County Superior Court judge has ordered the city to pay nearly $1 million in attorneys’ fees after the Central Library shifted a swath of titles into a restricted shelf for minors. The tentative ruling finds the policy conflicted with state protections for free access to materials and directs the city to cover $959,853.73 in legal costs. The award is the latest legal setback for a council that has repeatedly tried to limit what young people can pull off the shelves, and it could tighten already stressed city finances.
Judge Lindsey E. Martínez, in a tentative ruling posted April 27, granted the petitioners’ motion and approved a reduced fee award of $959,853.73, concluding the lawsuit produced a public benefit and that detailed billing records justified recovery. The court said it trimmed parts of the plaintiffs’ request for inefficiencies and divided the recoverable amount among four legal teams, according to the Orange County Superior…..