Florida lawmakers pass bill making it easier to challenge textbooks
Reuters, 5/5/2017
NCAC & Dramatists Legal Defense Fund Demand Minnesota City Officials Apologize for Cancelling Play With Word ‘Mulatto’ in Title
The letter demands a public apology from the City of Burnsville and urges the City to develop a formal policy governing artistic programming at the Ames Center to ensure it is in compliance with First Amendment requirements.
Anti-Boycott Legislation Violates Free Speech Principles
Even when not enforced or non-binding, anti-BDS bills potentially chill protected expression by singling out the expression of unpopular or controversial views. Such bills seriously and impermissibly undermine core First Amendment rights.
NCAC Joins HarperCollins for #WhyIRead Campaign, Celebrating Company’s 200th Anniversary
As an organization committed to defending authors’ free expression and the right to read, NCAC was selected by HarperCollins employees to receive a donation as part of its #WhyIRead campaign, which pledges to donate $200,000 to charities supporting causes that are important to HarperCollins.
HarperCollins Launches Literacy Campaign #WhyIRead
Publishers Weekly, 5/1/2017
Students of SJP File Suit Against Fordham
Fordham Observer, 4/26/2017
NCAC + Lambda Legal Request Tennessee School Apologize for Removing pro-LGBT Student Artwork
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) and Lambda Legal are calling on a Tennessee high school to apologize for removing a displayed student artwork featuring the word “GAYDOM” and a rainbow motif. The groups demand the drawing be immediately restored, arguing that the school’s justification for the removal-- that some students were offended by the artwork-- violates the student artist’s First Amendment rights.
Jerome school considers removing book from library Jerome school considers removing book from library
KMVT Twin Falls, 4/25/2017
National group urges Jerome school to keep Japanese novel
Magic Valley News, 4/25/2017
NCAC Demands Idaho Middle School Retain Popular Manga Novel in Library; UPDATE: Committee Votes to Keep Book
The notion that the mere presence of inappropriate language and allegedly suggestive images is justification for a book’s removal sets a harmful precedent that, for example, a classic work of literature that contains adult language, or an art history textbook that includes a nude, should also be kept away from teens.
Congressman to Appeal Removal of Art Showing Cops as Pigs, Citing Free Speech
ArtNet News, 4/19/2017
NCAC Criticizes Minnesota School’s Decision to Cancel Play Featuring Ku Klux Klan Characters
The groups maintain that although the school should and must aim to create a positive learning environment free from racism and hostility, the decision to cancel the play fails to further this objective
Parents may get new way to challenge school textbooks
Orlando Sentinel, 4/18/2017
SIGN: Petition Urging Rejection of Proposal Requiring US Visitors’ Social Media Passwords
The online petition has been launched in response to the news DHS Secretary Kelly is likely to implement the proposal.
Watch What You #Tweet: Youth Free Expression Film Contest Winners
NCAC is delighted to announce our three winners for our 2016 Youth Free Expression Film Contest.
NCAC Objects to Bill Threatening Educational Standards in Florida; UPDATE: Bill Signed Into Law
The bill is vague, allowing challenges and changes to curricular selections made by ideological actors.
NCAC Protests AZ School District’s Unjustifiable Removal of ‘The Kite Runner’ from English Curriculum
The letter argues that choosing to remove a book citing "community standards" sets a dangerous precedent for future book challenges.
PRESS RELEASE: Free Speech Groups Protest AZ School District’s Unjustifiable Removal of The Kite Runner from English Curriculum
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) and 7 other organizations committed to defending the freedom to read are urging a Arizona school district to reinstate Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner in its English curriculum after the book was removed without explanation or prior review. The groups argue the district’s decision is unwarranted and does an educational disservice to its students by depriving them of access to a novel that explores salient and timely themes.
Gov. Sununu expected to sign bill requiring notice before teaching sex ed
New Hampshire Union Leader, 4/11/2017
An Art Career Intertwined with Censorship: The Murals of Mike Alewitz
A profile of muralist Mike Alewitz describes how his radical politics infuses his work and left him open to many incidents of censorship.
Tennessee University Fires NPR Reporter After Politicians Complain
TruthOut, 4/8/2017.
Joan Bertin, NCAC Executive Director, to Step Down
Joan Bertin, the longtime executive director of the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC), announced today that she is stepping down from her role in June.
NCAC Criticizes Politically Motivated Removal of ‘Jacob’s New Dress’ From North Carolina Lesson Plan
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) and 6 other organizations committed to defending the right to read are urging a North Carolina school district to reinstate a children’s book in a 1st grade anti-bullying lesson plan after it was removed following pressure from local Republican lawmakers concerned about its gender-nonconforming themes.
Villages Charter School student a finalist in video scholarship competition
Villages News, 4/4/2017
Free Speech Groups Criticize Politically Motivated Removal of ‘Jacob’s New Dress’ From North Carolina Lesson Plan
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) and 6 other organizations committed to defending the right to read are urging a North Carolina school district to reinstate a children’s book in a 1st grade anti-bullying lesson plan after it was removed following pressure from local Republican lawmakers concerned about its gender-nonconforming themes. The groups express concern that political and ideological motivations were behind the district’s decision to remove the book.
Free Speech Groups Urge New Hampshire Governor to Veto Bill Requiring Educators to Notify Parents Prior to Use of Sex Ed. Materials
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) and other organizations committed to defending the freedom to read are urging New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu to veto a bill requiring schools to notify parents prior to the teaching of materials with information about human sexuality. The groups argue the bill will stigmatize the teaching of educationally valuable materials and undermine the quality of education in New Hampshire.
NCAC’s Primer On The Whitney Biennial Controversy: A Timely and Necessary Exchange
In the aftermath of the Whitney Biennial controversy, NCAC has aggregated the best commentary and opinions on the fraught but necessary incident.
Women’s History NJ: Judy Blume
Best of NJ, 3/31/2017
Governor vetoes ‘sexually explicit’ content bill
Chesterfield Observer, 3/29/2017
Supreme Court Urged to Safeguard Student Speech Against ‘Ideological Litmus Tests’
NCAC has joined the Student Press Law Center, the Cato Institute and the Electronic Frontier Foundation in urging the Supreme Court to take the case of Craig Keefe who was expelled from a nursing program for 'unprofessional' remarks.
Orleans Cultural Council disputes censorship charges
Cape Cod Times, 3/29/2017
May a college expel a student for ‘unprofessional speech’ in Facebook posts?
The Washington Post, 3/27/2017
Children’s Book ‘Jacob’s New Dress’ Yanked From Charlotte Schools After Outcry
Heat Street, 3/27/2017
Ten years ago: Accusations of porn at the Ann Arbor Film Festival led to fight for free speech
Michigan Radio, 3/24/2017
Nonpartisan Nonprofits Fight For Free Expression
Publisher's Weekly, 3/24/2017.
Watch What You #Tweet: Youth Free Expression Film Contest Finalists
NCAC is pleased to announce our twelve finalists for our 2016 Youth Free Expression Film Contest: Watch What You #Tweet: How Free Should Social Media Be? Our panel of judges will carefully evaluate these films and announce the first, second, and third-place winners in mid-April.