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ABFFE
UPDATE
February 20, 2009 Previously
in ABFFE Update
Volume 11,
Number 2
Free Speech Groups Condemn Decision
 Last
week, ABFFE joined the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) and
the Freedom to Read Foundation (FTRF) in criticizing a decision by the
11th Circuit Court of Appeals upholding the Miami-Dade County School
Board's banning of the children's picture book,
Vamos a Cuba by Alta Schreier.
In a 2-1 decision last week, the appeals court declared that the school
board had the right to ban the book, which is intended for four-to-eight
year-olds, because it omitted such facts as "[t]he people of Cuba
survive without civil liberties" and "it [is] a crime to exercise
private initiative or to have private practice of a profession." ABFFE,
NCAC and FTRF had been joined by the Association of Booksellers for
Children, Reforma, and Peacefire.org in filing an
amicus brief
urging the appeals court to uphold the federal district court decision
that ordered the books back into the Miami school libraries.
ABFFE President Chris Finan said that the appeals court decision sets a
dangerous precedent. "The 11th circuit has given the green light to
school authorities to purge their libraries of books that they don't
like by claiming that they are not factual," he said.
Click here to read more.
Booksellers Help Kill Federal Internet Censorship Law
In late January, booksellers
joined civil libertarians throughout the country in celebrating the
death of the Child Online Protection Act (COPA), an Internet censorship
law that Congress passed in 1998. ABFFE, Powell's Books, and A
Different Light Bookstores were among the plaintiffs who challenged the
constitutionality of the law in a case filed by the American Civil
Liberties Union. In January, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it
would not review a decision by a federal court in Philadelphia striking
down the law. "It was a long wait, but it was worth it," ABFFE
President Chris Finan said. "The death of COPA means that Americans
will continue to enjoy unfettered access to the Internet."
Click here to read more.
Oregon Booksellers Seek Federal
Appeals Court Review
ABFFE will join a
group of Oregon booksellers in appealing to the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the Ninth Circuit a recent decision upholding an Oregon law that
could restrict the sale of books, magazines and other material to
minors. In April, ABFFE joined the booksellers and members of Media
Coalition in challenging the law because it is vague and lacks
procedural safeguards for material that is protected by the First
Amendment. "We continue to believe the law does not give booksellers
clear guidelines for determining what they can legally sell to a minor,"
ABFFE President Chris Finan said. "We are asking the appeals court to
ensure that Oregon provides all of the safeguards that the U.S. Supreme
Court requires for constitutionally protected material."
Click here to read more.
ABFFE Releases Free Speech Guide for Booksellers
ABFFE has released a training guide to be used with its video, Scenes
from a Bookstore: Free Speech Vignettes. The video addresses
common free speech issues that may arise in bookstores and demonstrates
"dos" and "don'ts" for booksellers and their staff through real-life
scenarios. Based on a script written by Matt Miller of the Tattered
Cover Book Store in Denver and Kerry Slattery of Skylight Books in Los
Angeles, Scenes from a Bookstore
was filmed at Skylight Books with members of the staff filling many of
the roles.
The training guide and a DVD of Scenes
from a Bookstore are available free of charge to members of ABFFE
and the American Booksellers Association. To order, contact Rebecca
Zeidel,
info@abffe.com,
(212) 587-4025, ext. 13. They are also
available online here.
Show Your Support for Freadom!
ABFFE's
popular "freadom" t-shirts, buttons, bookmarks, bumper
stickers and more are available during Banned Books Week and all year round.
To
order online, visit the ABFFE store.
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