Listen to the Pete Seeger Song Once Deemed Too Political for American Television
Iconic American musician Pete Seeger was censored by CBS over an anti-war song he wanted to perform on the Smother Brothers TV show.
Dramatists Guild to Washington DC’s Embattled Theater J: “Stand Strong”
NCAC participating organizations the Dramatists Guild and the Dramatists Legal Defense Fund have sent a letter (PDF embed below) to Theater J in Washington DC in support of the venue's staging of Motti Lerner's The Admission. A group called Citizens Opposed to Propaganda Masquerading as Art has waged a smear campaign to vilify the play as anti-Israel. The reason we dramatists feel so strongly about this [...]
State of Censorship: Unabridged Contributions From Our Participants
Read contributions from: American Association of University Professors American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression American Civil Liberties Union American Library Association American Society of Journalists & Authors Association of American Publishers Catholics for Choice College Art Association Comic Book Legal Defense Fund Dramatists Guild of America Lambda Legal Modern Language Association National Center for Science Education National Council of Teachers [...]
NSA’s collection of metadata “should end,” according to new report
Responses to recent disclosures about official surveillance of private communications and activities are rolling in. The most recent is from the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, which today released a Report on the Telephone Records Program Conducted under Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act and on the Operations of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. The PCLOB is an independent [...]
Why We Oppose Rating or “Red-Flagging” Books
Instead of giving books a scarlet letter, school boards should encourage teachers to explain to parents how and why they select certain materials and what educational purposes these materials serve for their children. F
ProPublica – Debunking Rationales for Mass Surveillance
ProPublica has published an analysis of the four most often cited rationales offered to justify mass surveillance and collection of metadata, describing why they are “questionable claims.” It is instructive reading for anyone who is concerned about claims that security cannot be achieved without sacrificing constitutional principles. Whatever the right answer to that dilemma, official dissembling does little to advance [...]
Did you catch it? NCAC Allies Shine in Al Jazeera Conversation About Book Censorship
Last night, Al Jazeera America's The Stream dedicated its show to a topic near and dear to NCAC's work and hearts: book challenges and bans in the U.S. Joining the show was author Carolyn Mackler, whose works NCAC has defended throughout the years, as well as partners-in-activism Isaiah Zukowski and Lynn Bruno. Isaiah spoke out as a high school senior when [...]
Muhlenberg Teachers, Students Object to ‘Red Flagging’ Classroom Library Books
A student-led petition sounded the alarm: no new books could enter Muhlenberg classroom libraries without being "rated" for mature, sexual, violent or religiously offensive content. A letter from NCAC's Kids' Right to Read Project sheds light on concerns over such ratings.
KRRP Weighs in on Virginia BOE Bid to Red Flag Books
In public comments on Virginia's State Department of Education website and in a letter to board members, NCAC's Kids' Right to Read Project asked the Board of Education to reject a proposed amendment that would force schools to notify parents any time "sensitive" materials are used in the classroom.
Court of Appeals Ruling Kills Net Neutrality
In a 2-1 ruling today, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals effectively ended net neutrality, striking down the Federal Communications Commission’s Open Internet Order. The FCC's order was intended to keep broadband providers from interfering with traffic on the Web. The issue of who should regulate internet access has been the subject of much debate in the last decade. NCAC believes net neutrality allows [...]
TomDispatch on Surveillance Abuses, Past and Present
This is a good, concise history of abuses by the intelligence community and offers a great argument against warrantless surveillance. Without that break-in by the Media 8, J. Edgar Hoover’s “shadow FBI,” a criminal conspiracy at the heart of a developing national security state, might never have been revealed. (The CIA, officially banned from domestic spying on Americans, turned out [...]
Utah Art Center Gets $60k Settlement from City for Eviction, Censorship
After cries of censorship, an eviction and a lawsuit, The Central Utah Art Center (CUAC) will receive a $60,000 in a settlement with the city of Ephraim, it was announced Friday. The lawsuit was filed in early 2013 after the CUAC was evicted from the space they had inhabited for 20 years. The city alleged the CUAC hadn't fulfilled its [...]
Why is this artist’s work “too controversial” for an art center exhibition?
Paul Carter/The Register-Guard As a dues-paying member of the Emerald Art Center in Springfield, OR, Linda Cunningham prepared a piece of work for the monthly members' show. The "pastoral" works of other members were accepted without incident, but Cunningham's three-dimensional piece was deemed "too controversial" and rejected by the executive board of the Art Center, according to The [...]
Joint Statement about the University of Colorado’s Actions Relating to Professor Patricia Adler
Statement about the University of Colorado’s Actions Relating to Professor Patricia Adler From The National Coalition Against Censorship, American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado, Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, and Student Press Law Center January 2, 2014 As groups concerned about academic freedom and free speech, we join the American Association of University Professors in expressing alarm over the [...]
Embattled Colorado Professor Returns to Teach “Deviance” Course
UPDATE: Sociology professor Patti Adler has returned to teaching after CU-Boulder informed her she would be reinstated as instructor of the course "Deviance in U.S. Society." NCAC and other national organizations issued a statement warning CU-Boulder of their obligations to academic freedom.