Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden (Farrar, Strauss, Giroux) CENSORSHIP REJECTED In the controversy preceding this book censorship trial -- which ended with a resounding victory for the First Amendment -- copies of Annie on My Mind were burned on the steps of the Kansas City school district headquarters. A federal judge ruled that the Olathe, Kansas school [...]
A PUBLICATION OF NCAC'S FUND FOR BOOKS IN TROUBLE Books in Trouble is an occasional snapshot and status report on some challenged books NCAC has been helping to protect. » Books in Trouble 1 August 1995 » Books in Trouble 2 May 1996 NCAC defends Books in Trouble through daily work with people on the frontlines in local communities. [...]
A federal judge ruled that the Olathe, Kansas school system had violated students' and parents' First Amendment rights when it ordered that all copies of the book Annie on My Mind be removed from high school library shelves. The book is the story of Annie and Liza, who meet at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, fall in love and consequently struggle with declaring their homosexuality to family and friends.
NCAC wrote to The New York Times to point out a serious omission in a news report announcing the appointment of Lee C. Bollinger as the new President of the University of Michigan.
The actual cost of public broadcasting is minuscule in comparison with other public activities. In fiscal 1995 the total federal operating budget for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is $286 million, while $200 million yearly is allocated to military bands.
You might wonder what could possibly be wrong with a group that calls itself Family Friendly Libraries. But be prepared: its true purpose is belied by its genial-sounding name. Family Friendly Libraries is the creation of people who are very angry at libraries -- and librarians -- and they are hard at work shaping libraries to fit their narrow beliefs and to "protect" the public from the "wrong" books, films, periodicals, and ideas.
Republicans in both houses of Congress displayed devout contempt for the right to free speech by promoting and voting for a telecommunications bill that tramples First Amendment rights in two ways...
After Martin Luther King Day this year, my son recounted what he had learned during his kindergarten class' commemorative activities: Dr. King worked to make America a fairer country for everyone; he did not believe in fighting; he was killed when he was still young.
The Last of the Wine by Mary Renault (Random House), Charlotte County, Florida CENSORSHIP REJECTED Fifth-century B.C. Athens is the setting of the historical novel that was challenged in a high school for references to homosexuality. Not only did the complainants and their supporters revile the book, which enlivened an honors history class, but they also attempted to humiliate [...]
What is the Working Group? There is intense disagreement among feminists on the question of whether there should be legal restrictions on sexually related expression. The Working Group on Women, Censorship, & "Pornography" was founded in 1992 to oppose the myth that censorship is good for women, that women want censorship, and that those who support censorship speak for all [...]
A Conference Report Where are the feminists who oppose censorship? The women -- artists, writers, therapists, lawyers, educators, sex industry workers, and activists -- who believe censorship of sexually related expression is dangerous to women? Where are the historically informed, legally sophisticated, and politically impassioned voices linking women's freedom and sexual free speech? Their voices were heard at The Sex [...]
During the Persian Gulf war, NCAC protested to Defense Secretary Cheney, with other groups, about Pentagon press restraints which far exceeded the need to protect lives. Public acceptance of the extreme restrictions shows a tenuous understanding of the reasons for press freedom.
Click here to download a PDF of Vonnegut's remarks on censorship and literature from a January 16, 1986 briefing on the Attorney General's Commission on Pornography, organized by NCAC.