For the first time in nearly 20 years, the Supreme Court is poised to address the free speech rights of students. The Court is considering a case, Morse v. Frederick, involving a high school senior from Juneau, Alaska, who was suspended for displaying a banner that his principal did not approve of.
Don Imus created a giant headache for free speech advocates. Of course he’s entitled to say what he wants. And his employers also have the right to fire him for it. The heavy hand of government was not involved. So why are so many First Amendment advocates uneasy?
What are they thinking? Student activists speak out
Members, Assembly Judiciary Committee 1020 N Street, Room 104 Sacramento, California 95814 Re: AB 698 - Oppose Dear Members of the Judiciary Committee: The National Coalition Against Censorship writes to express concerns about AB 698, which would create a new cause of action for making disparaging comments about perishable agricultural products, because of its potential to chill protected [...]
(Baltimore Examiner) Superintendent Jacqueline Haas will go before the Harford County Board of Education on Tuesday to announce that Robert Cormier’s “The Chocolate War” will be pulled from the mandatory ninth-grade “living in a contemporary world” class, despite a review committee’s unanimous ruling that it should be kept. Parents came to Board of Education meetings throughout the summer to protest [...]
UPDATED: Harford County's school superintendent reverses decision and The Chocolate War is returned to classrooms (Baltimore Sun, 11/20/07) Jacqueline C. Haas, ...
We write to oppose efforts to remove the book, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, from Newton High School’s required reading list and to suggest certain amendments to your current policies regarding book challenges.
Title Expunged: A Night of Uncensored Comedy Join NCAC for an evening of flagrantly free speech on Wednesday, April 16 in New York City. See a raucous performance by the comedians of Laughing Liberally inspired by the First Amendment issues and controversies that NCAC works on each day. Stick around afterward to drink liberally and speak freely with the staff [...]
We write to oppose efforts to remove the book, Fools Crow by James Welch, from Helena High School’s sophomore English curriculum.
In March 2007, a naked figure of Jesus sculpted out of chocolate elicited public condemnation from Catholic groups, who claimed it was offensive to their religion. The New York City gallery where the work was to be displayed received threats of boycott and violence and eventually cancelled the exhibition. No sooner had the brouhaha over that media spectacle died than [...]
Mansfield, CT Some decisions to take down artwork after individual complaints are made hastily and put government officials in a precarious situation. In such cases it is crucial for supporters of free expression to speak up! A recent case proves this point: In February 2007 the Mansfield Community Center in Mansfield, CT removed three pieces of art on display at [...]
In a disturbing act of censorship, Texas State Rep. Boris Miles personally removed works of art from an exhibit sponsored by The Moratorium Project (a group opposed to the death penalty) and displayed in the Texas Capitol Building in Austin. The exhibition was part of an initiative to hold “public purpose” exhibits at the Capitol.
In Wilton, CT, as part of an advanced theater class at Wilton High School, theater teacher, Bonnie Dickinson, asked her class to create a play about the conflict in Iraq. Her goal was to encourage kids to put themselves in the shoes of soldiers close to their age in Iraq.
Edward Albee, Christopher Durang, John Weidman, Marsha Norman, Doug Wright, John Guare, John Patrick Shanley and many other prominent members of the Dramatists Guild joined the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) and other free speech advocates to oppose the banning of a student play about Iraq in Wilton, CT.
Edward Albee, Christopher Durang, John Weidman, Marsha Norman, Doug Wright, John Guare, John Patrick Shanley and many other prominent members of the Dramatists Guild joined the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) and other free speech advocates to oppose the banning of a student play about Iraq in Wilton, CT.
Stephen W. Daeschner, Superintendent Jefferson County Public Schools Jefferson County Board of Education Box 34020 Louisville, KY 40232 March 30, 2007 Dear Superintendent Daeschner and Members of the Board of Education: We are troubled by the recent removal of the book, Beloved by Toni Morrison, from the Advanced Placement (AP) English classes at Eastern High School. We understand that [...]
Detroit -- On March 20, 2007, the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan announced a federal lawsuit on behalf of the Ann Arbor Film Festival (AAFF) against the State of Michigan for violating the first amendment rights of the festival.
We are troubled by media reports of efforts to remove a number of books from two public school libraries in Duval County. We understand that parents have objected to Vegan Virgin Valentine by Carolyn Mackler at Mandarin High School and to Lucky by Eddie de Oliveira, Beyond the Chocolate War by Robert Cormier, Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume, and Olive’s Ocean by Kevin Henkes at LaVilla School of the Arts.
We write to express concern about objections to Vegan Virgin Valentine by Carolyn Mackler, which is in the school library at Mandarin High School. We understand that a few parents have objected to certain language in the book and, at minimum, want the school to require parental permission before students can check it out.
Early in 2007, the Newbery Award-winning novel The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron became the subject of a dispute among authors and librarians across the country over its use of the word “scrotum.” Following a report in the New York Times, the story of Patron’s challenged book became national news, and many school librarians have hesitated to purchase [...]
Closed Doors, Open Democracies? A national dialogue with government openness experts Join Ira Flatow, host and executive producer of NPR's Science Friday, and t wo panels of government and other experts in a national dialogue addressing issues of access to government information, including the impact of government suppression and manipulation of scientific information on public health and safety - and [...]
Defend Free Speech on the Public Airwaves update: 3/26/2007: It appears that the initial update we provided on MPBN's response was misinformed. While the station has voiced its desire to keep Robert Skoglund on the air, it appears to remain committed to its "non-political" speech restrictions, as explained in this statement. While we respect MPBN's commitment to non-partisan, even-handed [...]
NEW YORK, NY, March 8, 2007 -- The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) and the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) today welcomed decisions by federal, state and local prosecutors upholding the right of students in Howell, Michigan, to read Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, Richard Wright’s Black Boy, Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five, and Augusten Burroughs’ Running with [...]
We write to express concern about efforts to remove Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher from the tenth grade English curriculum in Missouri Valley High School. We understand that the book has been challenged because of objections to language.
We were disturbed to learn that a photo collage by George Jacobi and two sculptures by Eda Easton have been removed from the Mansfield Community Center because of individual complaints. We urge you to return the work to display as soon as possible.
The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) and the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) today condemned the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan for asking the Federal Bureau of Investigation to investigate a complaint that books used in the public schools of Howell, Michigan, are obscene.
The Brooklyn Central Public Library on Grand Army Plaza embroiled itself in a censorship controversy this February by excluding several pieces from a show documenting the Brooklyn Atlantic Yards neighborhood. The exhibition, “Footprints: Portrait of a Brooklyn Neighborhood,” first appeared at Grand Center, a community space in Prospect Heights. When the Library offered to host the show, it also stipulated [...]
» Read the letter to the school board NEW YORK, NY, February 13, 2007 – The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) and the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) today welcomed a Michigan school board’s decision to reject demands that it censor Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye , Richard Wright’s Black Boy , Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five , and [...]
The Global Democracy Promotion Act, first introduced in 2001, may finally be gaining traction in Congress. The bill would ensure that the United States cannot impose standards on organizations outside its borders that it would not stand for imposing within its borders; allow funding for organizations that provide services that are legal in their own country and also legal in ours; and end the punishment of health care providers that observe the same standards of medical ethics and seek the same freedom of speech that apply in the United States.
A hearing held on January 30, 2007, by the House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform revealed a widespread pattern of political interference in the operations of federal scientific activities, including censorship of federal scientists’ speech and writing, the distortion and suppression of research results, and retaliation against those who protest these acts. These charges raise profoundly important [...]
The House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, chaired by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), conducted a hearing on the censorship of government climate scientists. Among the issues the committee addressed was the suppression of federal scientists’ speech and writing, the distortion and suppression of research results, and retaliation against those who protest these acts. In response to the [...]
We write to oppose efforts to remove the books, The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison and Black Boy by Richard Wright, from the Howell High School 11 th grade English curriculum.
According to Variety Magazine, the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) and NATO (National Association of Theater Owners) are instituting changes to the longstanding film ratings system: A year ago at Sundance, Kirby Dick made noise with his documentary "This Film Is Not Yet Rated," which took direct aim at the Motion Picture Assn. of America's ratings system for being [...]
According to Variety Magazine, the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) and NATO (National Association of Theater Owners) are instituting changes to the longstanding film ratings system.
Hearings this week, held by the new Democratic chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Rep. Henry Waxman, have documented long-standing charges that the White House routinely injects political considerations into the work of federal science agencies in an attempt to censor government scientists and mislead the public about the extent of the danger posed by [...]
On January 30, 2007, the Oversight Committee heard testimony from a number of leading climate change scientists regarding allegations that officials edited scientific reports and made other efforts to interfere with the work of government scientists who study climate change.
Below is NCAC's letter to the Centro Cultural Aztlan; for background, click here. The recent removal of Anna-Marie Lopez's work from a show at the Centro Cultural Aztlan has shaken belief in the Centro’s real commitment to the representation of a diversity of Chicano voices and has led many in the community to suspect that the Centro is censoring artists’ [...]
A recent, troubling incident involving an art exhibition sponsored by the Centro Cultural Aztlan in San Antonio, Texas merits your attention and voice in opposition to attempts to limit artistic expression. A piece by artist Anna-Marie Lopez, initially selected for display in the Centro’s annual tribute to the Virgen de Guadalupe, was rejected shortly before the opening of the exhibition. [...]
Thomas Murphy, Superintendent Federal Way No. 210 31405 - 18th Ave. S. Federal Way WA 98003 Dear Superintendent Murphy: We have been following with interest the controversy over the Federal Way School Board's recent decision to declare a "moratorium" on showing the film, "An Inconvenient Truth," to students in your school district. We believe such a decision not only [...]
January 9, 2007 Mr. Ned Crouch, Director Customs House Museum & Cultural Center P.O. Box 383 Clarkesville, TN 37041-0383 Re: William Gentry Exhibit Dear Mr. Crouch, I am writing on behalf of the National Coalition Against Censorship, an alliance of 50 national non-profit organizations united in defense of free expression, regarding the recent removal of the William Gentry art [...]