Monthly Archives: June 2012

Youth Voices Uncensored

By |2020-01-03T14:32:03-05:00June 29th, 2012|Updates|

From left to right: YFEP Film Contest Winners Patrick Rooks, Caitlin Wolper, Jake Gogats, Summer Lee, and Urban Word NYC Youth Performer Amani Breanna We appreciate everyone who came out for a fun day of youth-made films at our 2011 Youth Voices Uncensored screening at the New York Film Academy. In addition to the films that won our Free Expression [...]

The FCC and Indecency: The Supreme Court Decides Not to Decide

By |2017-10-18T16:48:02-04:00June 27th, 2012|FEPP Articles|

The potentially momentous case of Federal Communications Commission v. Fox Television ended on June 21 not with a bang but a whimper. True, a unanimous Supreme Court vacated the FCC's rulings that the "fleeting expletives" in two TV programs and the fleeting nudity in a third were "indecent." But it did so on the narrow ground that the agency violated [...]

KRRP Advises Fremont Board to Approve Texts for AP English

By |2020-01-03T14:17:38-05:00June 27th, 2012|Incidents|

The Kids' Right to Read Project joined with partner organizations in writing a letter to the Fremont, CA School Board, warning against another rejection of the book Bastard Out of Carolina without sound pedagogical reasons. KRRP also wrote a letter in 2011 about the board's rejection of Tony Kushner's pulitzer-prize winning play Angels in America.

Author of “In Our Mothers’ House” Speaks

By |2019-03-20T13:25:58-04:00June 25th, 2012|Blog|

Patricia Polacco, the prolific children's book author who wrote In Our Mothers' House answered NCAC's questions about the objections which have recently been raised in Davis County, UT. Complaints have centered around the non-traditional nature of the family depicted in the book and the fact that the family has two moms.

(Banned) Books that Shaped America at LOC

By |2021-12-14T10:58:05-05:00June 22nd, 2012|Blog|

On June 25, the Library of Congress will open its summer exhibit "Books That Shaped America."  The exhibit will be on display through the end of September in the Southwest Gallery, located on the second floor of the Thomas Jefferson Building in Washington, DC. Many books on the list of notable tomes won't surprise you. And it certainly didn't surprise [...]

Supreme Court to Revisit FCC’s “Indecency” Policy

By |2016-02-03T12:23:19-05:00June 22nd, 2012|Blog|

In July, 2009, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the FCC's "Indecency" Policy, which prohibited "single uses of vulgar words," was unconstitutional, violating the First Amendment rights of broadcasters. In April, the Justice Department appealed to the Supreme Court over the ongoing confusion on the FCC's enforcement of moral standards in broadcasting, stating that the Appeals Court [...]

NY State Anti-Cyberbullying Bill Jeopardizes First Amendment-Protected Student Speech

By |2019-03-08T00:01:57-05:00June 21st, 2012|Incidents|

The effort in New York State to combat bullying in schools is "deeply flawed", according to the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC), which has urged New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo not to sign the recently passed S.7740/A.I0712 bill into law. In a letter sent after the announcement of the bill's passage, NCAC praised the goals of the bill but warned of language so vague and overbroad that it "will likely create more problems than it solves."

Read Objectors’ Complaints About Family Books

By |2020-01-03T13:47:54-05:00June 20th, 2012|Blog|

Through records requests, the Kids' Right to Read Project was able to get access to the official complaints filed by parents and citizens who objected to the content of The Family Book and In Our Mothers' House. The excerpted passages below make clear some of the discomforts these individuals felt and what viewpoints they use to justify their desire to remove [...]

Non-Traditional Families Book Banning Bonanza

By |2020-01-03T13:47:51-05:00June 18th, 2012|Blog|

(applause for alliteration, please) This month we've been working on restoring two children's picture books teaching tolerance for different types of families. Though they are quite different in content, tone, reading level and appropriateness, their challenges parallel one another immensely. Book one is The Family Book by Todd Parr, a peppy, colorful and simple picture book teaching that families might be [...]

Graphic Novels and Comic Books, They’re Not Just for Kids

By |2019-03-07T23:32:01-05:00June 18th, 2012|Blog|

In fact, many of them contain the sorts of things you might not want a young child to see. Like video games, the market for comic books and graphic novels has a broader demographic appeal than 50 or 60 years ago. If your child does read, say, the dark and graphic work Neonomicon by Alan Moore, however, the answer may be [...]

NCAC Teams with ABFFE, CBLDF in Defense of Neonomicon

By |2020-01-03T14:17:38-05:00June 18th, 2012|Incidents|

The free speech organizations issued a letter to the Library Board of Trustees in Greenville, SC urging them to retain Alan Moore's graphic novel Neonomicon. The book, which is intended for an adult audience and was shelved in the adult section, has come under fire after a patron complained her teenage daughter had read it.

KRRP Urges Return of Book About Non-Traditional Family

By |2020-01-03T14:17:37-05:00June 14th, 2012|Incidents|

Patricia Polacco's In Our Mothers' House is a story about love and family. But its the non-traditional nature of the family which has drawn complaints from parents, resulting in restricted access. NCAC objects to the district's response to these objections and said as much in a letter to the Superintendent.

Just When You Thought You Had Enough “Fifty Shades”…

By |2020-01-03T13:47:46-05:00June 13th, 2012|Blog|

After Brevard County reversed its decision to remove Fifty Shades of Grey from its libraries, we noticed that several other library systems who had initially said they wouldn't buy the book relented in the face of public demand. Holds on these books are bananas: they have ranged from the hundreds to over two-thousand in various library systems. We issued a joint [...]

“The Dirty Cowboy” Cause Lives On

By |2020-01-03T13:47:45-05:00June 12th, 2012|Blog|

You remember The Dirty Cowboy, our favorite book ban in May? School board members may be standing their ground, but they haven't heard the last of residents perturbed by the ban. The Patriot-News and The Lebanon Daily News both featured an Op-Ed piece by Annville-Cleona parent Tim White this weekend. White writes: "Although ACSD board President Tom Tschudy stated that [...]

NCAC Unites Orgs in Support of “The Family Book” in Erie, I.L.

By |2020-01-03T14:17:37-05:00June 12th, 2012|Incidents|

Seven organizations joined with the Kids' Right to Read Project on a letter urging the Erie School Board to reconsider its ban on Todd Parr's The Family Book (Little, Brown and Company) and all materials endorsed by GLSEN. The book was removed from schools because of objections to a page saying "some families have two moms or two dads." 

NCAC, Free Speech Groups Criticize MD Library’s “Porn” Ban

By |2020-01-03T14:17:36-05:00June 12th, 2012|Incidents|

NCAC organized a number of free speech groups in a letter to the Harford County Public Library, criticizing its exclusion of E.L. James' Fifty Shades of Grey (Vintage). The library has stated it will not buy the book, despite demand from patrons, because of a categorical ban on "pornography." 

Turn It Off, Dammit! — Opposition to Film Screening

By |2020-01-03T13:47:44-05:00June 11th, 2012|Blog|

Turn Me On, Dammit!, an indie Norwegian film about a 15-year-old girl’s struggling with her burgeoning sexuality and dealing with high school tensions, has been widely acclaimed by critics on both sides of the Atlantic. Yet, controversy led to the cancellation of a screening in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where the film was scheduled to be shown as part of the Arts [...]

The Story Behind Todd Parr’s “The Family Book”

By |2016-01-15T11:22:19-05:00June 4th, 2012|Blog|

Watch children's book author Todd Parr explain the story behind his award-winning book The Family Book. The book was recently banned, along with all materials supported by GLSEN, in Erie, Illinois. Parents objected to the book because of a page which states that "some families have two moms and two dads," saying that it "pushes a homosexual agenda." NCAC and partner [...]

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