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Monthly Archives: June 2014

Florida School District Removes John Green’s “Paper Towns” From Summer Reading List (Update: Victory!)

By |2020-01-03T14:47:52-05:00June 30th, 2014|Incidents|

Update 7/16: Paper Towns has reappeared on the latest version of the John Long Middle School summer reading list! Previously: NCAC's Kids' Right to Read Project has expressed concerns over the removal of John Green's award-winning novel Paper Towns, from the 8th grade summer reading list at John Long Middle School in Pasco County (FL). A parent who objected to sexual content and references in the book expressed her concerns in an email to a member of the school board, who in turn forwarded the message to school officials on Friday, June 20. By the following Monday, the book had been removed from the reading list, even though the objecting parent did not request the book’s removal, but merely complained because she had not been alerted to its content.

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Harvard Law Review Censors Link to Nan Goldin Photograph

By |2020-01-03T15:31:08-05:00June 26th, 2014|FEPP Articles|

The Harvard Law Review has censored a link to an image by the prominent photographer Nan Goldin, ostensibly because of concerns about child pornography. The image, "Klara and Eddy Belly Dancing," shows two little girls cavorting, one of them nude. The link was included in an article by Marjorie Heins on censorship by private companies that offer social-media sites, web [...]

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“What Ails the Agencies for Which They Work”: The Parlous State of Public Employee Free Speech Law

By |2020-01-03T14:47:52-05:00June 25th, 2014|Blog|

Commentary The Supreme Court last week took a small step toward limiting the damage done to the First Amendment by its controversial 2006 decision in Garcetti v. Ceballos. The Court in Garcetti denied First Amendment protection to a public employee (there, an assistant prosecutor) who had blown the whistle on police misconduct (in that case, fraudulent search warrants). The prosecutor was punished [...]

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“What Ails the Agencies for Which They Work”: The Parlous State of Public Employee Free Speech Law

By |2017-10-05T11:03:58-04:00June 25th, 2014|FEPP Articles|

The Supreme Court last week took a small step toward limiting the damage done to the First Amendment by its controversial 2006 decision in Garcetti v. Ceballos. The Court in Garcetti denied First Amendment protection to a public employee (there, an assistant prosecutor) who had blown the whistle on police misconduct (in that case, fraudulent search warrants). The prosecutor was punished for [...]

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Nat’l and International Organizations Warn That Cancelling Death of Klinghoffer Screenings Endangers Creative Freedom, Undermines Institution’s Credibility

By |2020-01-03T14:47:51-05:00June 19th, 2014|Press Releases|

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NEW YORK, 06/19/2014-The National Coalition Against Censorship has been joined by the National Opera Association, Article 19, The Dramatists Legal Defense Fund, Free Expression Policy Project, freeDimensional, Freemuse, and PEN American Center in issuing a statement (available here) opposing the Metropolitan Opera's cancellation of live, high-definition screenings of John Adams' opera, The Death of Klinghoffer, to 65 countries. The statement urges the Metropolitan and its [...]

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Then and Now: The Triple X Edition

By |2019-03-15T16:09:16-04:00June 19th, 2014|Blog|

Sex. It's impure, shameful, dirty, immoral, and… harmful? Taboos around sex have existed through the ages, so much so that the American legal system classifies obscene sexual material as a rare exception to First Amendment protection. We rely on judges to tell us if our sexual imagination is obscene or acceptable, and 41 years ago this month, the Supreme Court [...]

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This Compromise Is Not Acceptable: Constitutionally Suspect South Carolina Budget Measure is an Assault on Academic Freedom

By |2016-01-27T16:02:52-05:00June 13th, 2014|Incidents|

National Coalition Against Censorship, American Civil Liberties Union of South Carolina, American Association of University Professors , American Booksellers Foundation for Freedom of Expression, Association of American Publishers, Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, Dramatists Guild, Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, Modern Language Association and National Council of Teachers of English   As national organizations dedicated to freedom of speech [...]

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Conflict Avoidance

By |2020-01-03T14:47:46-05:00June 12th, 2014|Blog|

Cancelled commencement speakers, a rush of attempts to put trigger warnings on class content, student petitions to remove potentially disturbing artwork from campus… What is going on? Academia is no stranger to free speech battles. In the 1950s professors could be ousted for “treasonous or seditious acts or utterances” or for being members of an organization advocating the violent overthrow [...]

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UnWholly by Neal Shusterman Removed From 7th Grade Class in Kentucky

By |2018-06-26T13:42:05-04:00June 11th, 2014|Incidents|

NCAC's Kids' Right to Read Project has sent a letter to the Murray Independent Schools district in Kentucky regarding the decision to remove the novel UnWholly from 7th grade reading at Murray Middle School, and the ongoing conversation about book challenge policies and how they are implemented in the district. The parent of a student complained that the book’s content [...]

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Florida School’s Cancelling Little Brother Assignment Causes Big First Amendment Concerns For National Organizations

By |2020-01-03T14:47:43-05:00June 9th, 2014|Incidents|

In a letter sent today, NCAC’s Kids’ Right to Read Project expressed concerns over the cancellation of Cory Doctorow's novel Little Brother, as the assigned text for Booker T. Washington High School's school-wide summer reading program. The letter points out that "the book was selected after an extensive process by the professional staff", yet the program was cancelled despite "no formal [...]

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NCAC, ACLU-SC and Allies Decry South Carolina Legislature’s Infringement On Academic Freedom

By |2016-02-05T13:40:21-05:00June 9th, 2014|Press Releases|

Political Micromanaging of College Curriculum and Punishing Colleges for Teaching Books with LGBT Content is an Assault on Academic Freedom June 9, 2014 Media Contacts: Michael O'Neil, Communications Director, National Coalition Against Censorship; [email protected], (212) 807 6222 x 107 Victoria Middleton, Executive Director, ACLU of South Carolina; [email protected], (843) 720 1424; The National Coalition Against Censorship, ACLU of South Carolina [...]

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Then and Now: Out Loud and Proud

By |2020-01-03T14:47:42-05:00June 5th, 2014|Blog|

No one knows exactly why Andy Warhol's only public work, "13 Most Wanted Men," was censored fifty years ago this month at the 1964 World's Fair in Queens, New York. Initial press reports said it was Warhol himself who didn't like the work. But that was not the case. Yet, no other rationale was offered. The reason remained unspoken - or perhaps, it was simply [...]

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Potential Challenge to Absolutely True Diary in Same NC County Where Color Purple Was Under Threat

By |2019-03-07T22:49:27-05:00June 4th, 2014|Incidents|

No lie, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian will likely face another challenge, this time in Brunswick County, North Carolina, where the The Color Purple was challenged earlier this year. NCAC sent a letter in the Color Purple case and the book was ultimately kept. A formal challenge has yet to be filed regarding Absolutely True Diary, though NCAC sent the below [...]

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