A federal judge has given plaintiffs challenging the removal of books from library shelves in Escambia County public schools the green light to move forward on a First Amendment lawsuit.

Judge T. Kent Wetherell of the Northern District of Florida rejected a motion by the Escambia County School Board to dismiss the lawsuit brought by PEN America, Penguin Random House and several affected authors and parents. The order was issued Jan. 12 after oral arguments on the legal challenge.

In arguing against the school district’s decision to pull books such as The Bluest Eye, Slaughterhouse-Five and The Kite Runner, the plaintiffs asserted two First Amendment counts and a 14th Amendment equal-protection count. Wetherell allowed the plaintiffs to move forward on the First Amendment counts but found that the equal-protection claim, which argued the book removals targeted non-white and LGBTQ authors and students, was not plausible.