Issue 101, Spring 2006 On September 30, 2005, the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published “The face of Mohammed,” 12 cartoons (including the one at right, by Arne Sørensen) accompanied by an article in which editor Flemming Rose commented provocatively, "The modern, secular society is rejected by some Muslims. They demand a special position, insisting on special consideration of their own [...]
The US Food and Drug Administration recently announced that it found no "sound scientific" evidence to support medical use of marijuana, disregarding contrary findings by the National Academy of Science Institute of Medicine in 1999.
Poor Jay Bennish, the teacher in Aurora, Colorado, who criticized aspects of the State of the Union address in his 10th grade geography class. Too bad he didn’t like it. Too bad one of his students was secretly recording the class.
In Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights (FAIR), the Supreme Court upheld the 1996 Solomon Amendment, which requires universities receiving federal funding to allow military recruitment on campus.
Nearly a year has passed since news broke that the administration was paying television commentators to tout its policies on the air, and was distributing pre-packaged video segments designed to be indistinguishable from local news reports. Although the Government Accountability Office decried these practices as illegal "covert propaganda," the Justice Department has instructed those responsible to ignore the GAO’s opinion, because it is “nonbinding.”
"Paramount among the responsibilities of a free press is the duty to prevent any part of the government from deceiving the people" — Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black, 1971
We asked our Participating Organizations to contribute to Censorship News #100 by reporting on a topic of concern to their constituents. Below are a few responses that illustrate the wide range of censorship-oriented issues that the coalition is working to address.
On December 21, a bipartisan coalition struck down a measure to permanently adopt most of the USA Patriot Act. The Senate instead passed a five week extension, citing the need to institute more protections for Americans' privacy and civil liberties.
In Hosty v. Carter (6/20/05), the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals decided that the framework for analyzing high school students' press rights established by the Supreme Court in Hazelwood vs. Kuhlmeier (1988) also applies to publicly-subsidized colleges and universities.
A federal district court in Connecticut has issued a preliminary injunction against a “gag order,” part of a National Security Letter, issued by the FBI to obtain library records. Institutions receiving National Security Letters are forbidden to inform anyone about the search.
School board members and some parents from Dover, PA have been quoted in The New York Times as saying that "teaching intelligent design is a free speech issue." They're only right if they're talking about First Amendment protection against compelled speech.
In Hosty v. Carter (6/20/05), the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals decided that the framework for analyzing high school students' press rights established by the Supreme Court in Hazelwood vs. Kuhlmeier (1988) also applies to publicly-subsidized colleges and universities. The ruling, which applies in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin, has alarmed First Amendment advocates.
A federal district court in Connecticut has issued a preliminary injunction against a “gag order,” part of a National Security Letter, issued by the FBI to obtain library records. Institutions receiving National Security Letters are forbidden to inform anyone about the search.
The Public Broadcasting System pulled an episode of a children's show, Postcards from Buster, when Education Secretary Margaret Spellings complained.
The following is excerpted from an essay in the Magazine Section of The New York Times, 2/20/05.
From a so-called Academic Bill of Rights campaign to the resignation of a university president in Colorado, academic freedom is under attack.
Balance seems an unassailable ideal. But consider how the concept can be misused.
The House of Representatives voted to exempt library and bookstores from FBI searches allowed under Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act. The Freedom to Read Act, introduced by Rep. Bernie Sanders (VT), cuts funding for such searches by amending the House Appropriations Bill.
NCAC is launching The Knowledge Project, a new program examining the clash between First Amendment principles of free expression and government suppression or distortion of scientific information. Announcing the new initiative, Executive Director Joan E. Bertin said: “This project will call attention to the erosion of our country’s knowledge base and the rise of anti-intellectualism as a national credo. Beyond [...]
On September 29, NCAC marked Banned Books Week with a program co-sponsored by PEN and ABFFE, featuring readings by authors of banned and challenged books for young adults: Judy Blume, Robert Lipsyte, Walter Dean Myers, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Deborah Hautzig. Peter Sis, and Rita Williams-Garcia. The setting was Free Speech Zone, an installation by artists Nora Ligorano and Marshall Reese [...]
The Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, creating the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), was enacted by Congress to establish an alternative to commercial television to inform, enlighten, and enrich the public and reflect America's common values and cultural diversity.
In 1807, an Englishman named Thomas Bowdler published the first, sanitized edition of The Family Shakespeare. He promised that he had removed from Shakespeare's works "everything that can raise a blush on the cheek of modesty."
Forever, Judy Blume's 30-year old novel, beloved by teens, still shocks some adults.
Creationists have been battling the teaching of evolution at least since the Scopes Trial of 1925.
Which is worse? A fleeting glimpse of a Janet Jackson's breast, or a commentator hyping a government program without disclosing he was paid to do it? A single expletive, or phoney news reports about Medicare from a former reporter?
Students enrolled in federally-funded abstinence-only sex education programs are misinformed about science, deprived of vital health information, and exposed to gender stereotypes and religious dogma, according to a Congressional study commissioned by California Representative Henry A. Waxman.
Catcher in the Rye, J. D. Salinger's frequently challenged coming-of-age novel, will remain in the ninth grade curriculum at Noble High in North Berwick, ME. The school board rejected a request to ban the book for offensive language and themes. The board agreed to revise procedures to inform parents about book selections.
In response to a lawsuit filed by PEN American Center and other groups, the Treasury Department revised regulations that embargoed books and journal articles whose authors live in Iran, Cuba, or Sudan.
At the new Rubin Museum of Art in Manhattan on November 16, NCAC Friends enjoyed a gala evening celebrating 30 years of work in defense of the First Amendment. The 30th Anniversary Chair and MC was Chip Gibson, President and Publisher of Random House Children's Books.
Issue 96, Winter 2004-2005 "Freedom of speech is the linchpin on which other rights depend," said Joan Bertin (left) at NCAC's 30th Anniversary celebration, as she thanked NCAC friends for their support. Joel Hollander (right), President and COO of Infinity Broadcasting, said, "The FCC's efforts to tighten regulation of broadcasters under its power to enforce standards of decency [...]
30 years ago, when NCAC was founded, the McCarthy era was relatively fresh in people's minds and served as a massive civics lesson about the value of freedom of speech. For those who didn't recall McCarthyism, the Vietnam war era provided an even more recent object lesson about the importance of open government, accountability, and dissent.
Among the millions of documents the government has classified to protect national security is information about the favorite cocktail of the Chilean dictator, Augusto Pinochet, and a joke about terrorists attacking Santa Claus.
Sex education in Texas is okay when abstinence is the message, according to the 15-member Texas Board of Education. Of the four textbooks under consideration, only one acknowledges condoms and none discusses other contraceptives.
NCAC will celebrate its 30th anniversary on Tuesday, November 16th at the exciting new Rubin Museum of Art in New York City which houses the largest collection of Himalayan art on display in the Western world.
On Nov. 7, the National Book Foundation will present author Judy Blume (left) with its annual medal for "distinguished contributions to American letters." She is the first author of books written primarily for children to receive the honor. Blume—a member of NCAC's Board of Directors—is one of the most censored authors in the US.
The 9th Circuit upheld a ruling by a French court to prevent Yahoo from circulating information about Nazi memorabilia, which is illegal in France. The decision potentially undermines Internet commerce by recognizing the jurisdiction of foreign courts in such disputes.
By the time you read this, the election season will, hopefully, be behind us. It would be a mistake, however, to forget the stench that accompanied it. Presidential debates were spun before they began, arranged to prevent the exchange of ideas, regulated to restrict what was seen, and designed to foreclose confrontation and follow-up.
Remember Total Information Awareness? The Government Accounting Office reports that the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Department of Homeland Security may be utilizing private data bases, including credit card records and Internet logs, to gain information about ordinary citizens.
The Supreme Court upheld the injunction against the Child Online Protection Act (COPA), Congress' latest effort to prevent children from accessing "harmful" sexual material online, reiterating that the rights of adults cannot be sacrificed even to protect children.