ABFFE UPDATE

December 10, 2007 Previously in ABFFE Update Volume 9, Number 9

ABFFE Condemns Removal of Challenged Books

ABFFE has condemned a decision to remove two books from the ninth grade optional reading list at Westhampton Beach High School in Westhampton Beach, NY.  The Westhampton Beach Board of Education voted 4-3 to remove The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult and Cradle and All by James Patterson from a list of 300 books that students can use to select reading assignments.  Some parents had objected to the inclusion of the books because of their sexual content. 

“By its vote, the Westhampton school board has allowed a few parents to determine what other people’s children can read.  That is censorship,” ABFFE President Chris Finan said.  ABFFE and the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) joined with a local bookseller, Terry Lucas of The Open Book, in opposing the removal of the books.   Lucas held a well-attended “Read-In” at her store in support of “freadom” – the right to read.  Students and local authors read from their favorite banned and challenged books.

To read the press release, click here.  To read ABFFE and NCAC's joint letter to the school board, click here.

Free Speech Groups Oppose Proposed Rating System for Books

ABFFE and five other groups have criticized a proposal to institute a rating system for books used in the schools of Kanawha County, WV.  The proposal comes in the wake of a controversy over challenged materials which began when the board banned Beach Music and The Prince of Tides, both by Pat Conroy, from AP English classes at Nitro High School following complaints from a few parents.  A review committee voted in favor of keeping Beach Music, which was returned to classes.  The Prince of Tides is still under review.  The school board is expected to discuss both The Prince of Tides and the proposed rating system when it meets next week.

The free speech groups issued a statement condemning the plan.  “Such a system would impose impractical and arbitrary standards for selecting educational materials,” the statement reads.  Furthermore, rating books would have “a chilling effect limiting what students read.” 

The statement was sent to the Charleston Daily Gazette and all school board members.  It is signed by ABFFE, the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC), the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), the Freedom to Read Committee of the Association of American Publishers (AAP), PEN American Center, and the Office for Intellectual Freedom of the American Library Association (ALA).

Click here to read the statement.

Utah Internet Case Clears Hurdle

In late November, a federal judge in Utah refused to dismiss a challenge to a state law that restricts the display of material that is “harmful to minors” on the Internet.  Judge Dee Benson declared that ABFFE and other national plaintiffs in the case have “standing” to challenge the law.  However, the judge ruled that several local plaintiffs, including two bookstores, King’s English and Sam Weller’s Zion Bookstore, do not have a legitimate fear that they may be prosecuted under the law and therefore may not participate in the case.  Both bookstores reject this view.  Because both are members of ABFFE, they will continue to play a role in the challenge.  For more information about the Utah case, click here.

ABFFE Book of the Month is “You Have No Rights”

A few weeks after the 9/11 attacks, Matthew Rothschild, editor of The Progressive magazine, was giving a talk when he was asked what he knew about the case of Todd Persche, a freelance cartoonist who had just lost his job with a weekly newspaper for drawing cartoons critical of the Bush administration.  He didn’t know anything about it, but he soon found out and added a new feature to the magazine Web site to track the growing number of violations of civil liberties.  Rothschild’s new book from New Press, You Have No Rights: Stories of America in an Age of Repression (ISBN 978159558168) contains a selection of the dozens of stories that he has documented in his column, McCarthyism Watch. You Have No Rights reveals a distressing number of cases in which the right to protest has been violated since 2001. It is ABFFE’s Book of the Month for December.  Click here to read more.

To read about recent ABFFE Book of the Month selections, click here.

Show Your Support for Freadom!

ABFFE's popular, newly-redesigned “freadom” t-shirts, buttons, and bumper stickers are available during Banned Books Week and all year round.  To order online, visit the ABFFE store.