The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini was challenged for sexual content and graphic language by a school board member and one community member. The school board member has proposed amending the district's current media policy to apply standards for audio and visual materials including books.
We are deeply concerned about the recent decision to suspend three students from Grover Cleveland High School because they wore homemade t-shirts which read, “My Vagina is Obscene,” to protest the censorship of the school newspaper Le Sabre. We understand that the school paper was confiscated because it featured a detailed diagram of a vagina and accompanying articles about “V-Day”, a national movement to raise awareness about violence toward women. In our view, both in censoring the school paper and suspending sophomore Richard Edmond and two of his peers for wearing these t-shirts, you have violated the students’ basic First Amendment and state free speech rights.
Looking for Alaska by John Green Challenged at Depew High School, Depew, NY Kimberly A. Mueller, Superintendent Members of the Board of Education Depew Union Free School District 591 Terrace Boulevard Depew, New York 14043 February 22, 2008 Dear Superintendent Mueller and Members of the Board of Education: We write to oppose efforts to remove the book, Looking [...]
And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell is a story about two male penguins who adopt and parent a chick. The book was challenged by one parent who objected to the story. Two committees at the school and district levels approved the book without restriction. However, despite these recommendations, the Superintendent of Loudoun County Public Schools decided [...]
Exposing the Censor Within at the College Art Association Conference in Dallas, TX, 2008 Wednesday, February 20–Friday, February 22, 8:00 am–7:00 pm Adam’s Mark Hotel, 2nd Floor Open and free to the public Exposing the Censor Within is an interactive public installation conceived by Svetlana Mintcheva, Director of the Arts Program at of the National Coalition Against Censorship and realized [...]
The Freedom Writers Diary Removed from English Class at Perry Meridian High School, Indianapolis, IN Dennis Nichols, Superintendent Members of the School Board Metropolitan School District of Perry Township 6548 Orinoco Avenue Indianapolis, IN 46227 February 13, 2008 Dear Superintendent Nichols and Members of the School Board, We are deeply concerned by reports that the book, The Freedom [...]
“Balance” has become the stalking horse for efforts to undermine academic freedom, to pressure journalists to self-censor or tone down critical reporting, and to justify censorship of art. What the proponents of "balance" demand is that any expression on a controversial topic be accompanied by opposing views, no matter how prevalent the latter may already be in public discourse. Frequently, the demand for “balance” results in the cancellation of the entire discussion. Such situations suggest that the rhetoric of balance has been co-opted as a subtle and insidious disguise for censorship.
In 2008 we launched the Virtual Coalition Against Censorship, A Project of the Arts Program at the NCAC. Virtual worlds are becoming a new locus of civic conversation and debate, however they are governed by extremely restrictive speech rules set by the gaming companies. Our project’s goal is to bring free speech advocacy to the virtual world, as well as [...]
The Michigan state legislature repealed its unconstitutional restrictions on arts funding to settle a federal lawsuit filed against it by the ACLU on behalf of the Ann Arbor Film Festival.
Destruction of CIA videotapes. Missing White House telephone records and visitor logs. Witnesses who defy Congressional subpoenas.