Censorship News Articles

Peter Arnett was fired from NBC because of statements he made in an interview on Iraqi television commenting on the strength of Iraqi resistance.

Members of Congress put the brakes on the Total Information Awareness Program proposed by the Defense Department, in response to widespread protest and concern for individual rights.

The outpouring of emotion since September 11th is taking a toll on free expression, in what many describe as the "new McCarthyism."

NCAC Censorship News Issue #68:   Winter 1997 Student Press A federal district court in Kentucky ruled that the censorship of student press by high school officials, which was permitted by the Kuhlmeier v. Hazelwood Supreme Court decision in 1988, allows for censorship of college and university press as well. At issue was the confiscation of yearbooks at Kentucky State [...]

NCAC is inaugurating Art Now: Nationwide Artistic Responses to the September 11th Tragedy and its Aftermath.

With a stroke of the pen on Nov. 1, President Bush stabbed history in the back and blocked Americans' right to know how presidents (and vice presidents) have made decisions. Executive Order 13223 ended more than 30 years of increasing openness in government.

School officials cannot ignore their own policies, an editorial in Wisconsin's The Star News observes, confirming NCAC's constant advice to those fighting school censorship. In commenting on Dishnow v. Rib Lake School District in the May 15th newspaper, Associate Editor Laurie Meyer ascribed the origins of the costly court battle to evasion of Rib Lake's review and reconsideration procedures when administrators removed Judy Blume's Forever from the library.

NCAC Censorship News Issue #68:   Winter 1997 Reason Prevails... ...in the Levittown, New York public schools where Robert Lypsyte's novel, One Fat Summer, was restored after representatives of NCAC, the Nassau County Chapter of NY Civil Liberties Union, and the Long Island Coalition Against Censorship met with school officials. The book had been removed as required reading after a [...]

In a profile in the New York Times Magazine last year, Jo List was quoted saying "I just do what matters to me." NCAC's work defending free expression was something that really mattered to Jo.

The Communications Decency Act, the provision of the 1996 Telecommunications Act designed to restrict the flow of information over the Internet, has now been struck down twice by federal court judges.

The House of Representatives has approved, and the Senate is perilously near approving, an amendment to the United States Constitution to prohibit "desecration" of the flag.

NCAC will hold a special preview and private tour of the Shelley and Donald Rubin collection of Himalayan art on May 30th in New York City.

Mayor Jay Lee of Virgin, Utah has a unique view of First Amendment rights. Local residents who want to comment on zoning and planning issues at Town Council meetings must pay $25.

Three rulings this year have ominous implications nationwide for academic freedom, creative teaching, and learning. High school teacher Cissy Lacks was fired by a St. Louis suburban school district in 1995, allegedly for violating the student code prohibiting profanity, by allowing her students' writing to reflect their own experiences and concerns in drama and poetry classes.

Many thanks to Shelley and Donald Rubin for inviting NCAC supporters to a private viewing of their outstanding collection of Himalayan art on May 30th.

  Issue 88, Winter 2002/2003 by Joan E. Bertin New Yorkers learned a lot about the First Amendment from former Mayor Giuliani. He was sued for infringing free speech more than any mayor in memory, and maybe in history. Ironically this became a living civics lesson. Even those who disagreed vehemently with the message supported the KKK's right to demonstrate peaceably [...]

Last year, the Supreme Court ruled that non-obscene speech is protected online, as it is in print (ACLU v. Reno). To circumvent the ruling, in October Congress enacted the "Child Online Protection Act."

NCAC mourns the loss of two long-time Board members, Samuel Rabinove and Nanette Roberts.

Teaching Sex, by Jeffrey Moran, recently published, provides a timely historical overview on the politics of sexuality education.

Michigan's "cussing canoeist" was recently vindicated when the state appeals court struck down a 105-year-old law banning vulgar language in front of women and children. Timothy Boomer was convicted in 1998, after cursing when he fell out of his canoe.

Other News from the Courts -- Not So Go

The Supreme Court has declined to hear teacher Cissy Lacks' appeal.

The Child Pornography Prevention Act of 1996 which bans sexual depictions of anyone who "appears to be" younger than 18, was upheld by the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston--overturning a lower court's ruling that the law is unconstitutionally vague and could prohibit legal adult pornography.

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Virginia law that restricts state employees from accessing sexually related materials online.

Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson was drowned out by protestors at the recent international AIDS conference in Barcelona. This is ironic, given the Administration's track record of suppressing speech about sexuality and sexual health.

Schools and libraries receiving federal discounts for Internet service will be required to install censoring software on their computers if the Children's Internet Protection Act, S. 97, is passed.

Last week, the Middle East Forum launched "Campus Watch" to condemn what it calls academic bias on the Middle East; a professor identified on the site was barraged with threatening e-mails.

College campuses erupted recently over a controversial ad that appeared in some student newspapers. The ad, written and paid for by conservative activist David Horowitz, opposes reparations for descendants of slaves.

A decision from a federal appeals court in September sharply limits the First Amendment rights of university journalists in the Sixth Circuit. The decision has stunned advocates for student media and free expression.

Aristophanes' plays were banned in the 5th century B.C. because of obscenity and anti-war themes; Confucius's writings were incinerated around 250 B.C. after a change of dynasty made them politically incorrect.

12 librarians at the Minneapolis Public Library filed a sexual harassment complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission protesting unfiltered computers where patrons can access pornography.

Judy Blume Draws Crowds, Crowds, and Then Some!Popular author Judy Blume drew record crowds to NCAC’s booth at New York Is Book Country, an outdoor fair held each September in New York City to commemorate Banned Books Week.

The State of the First Amendment annual survey, conducted by the First Amendment Center, shows further erosion in support of First Amendment rights.

NCAC Censorship News Issue #65: Spring 1997 As a tribute to her passionate commitment to the First Amendment and to her remarkable leadership, NCAC has established The Leanne Katz Fund for Free Expression (The LK Fund). With Judy Blume as its sponsor, the LK Fund will provide special support to carry forward NCAC's work into the millennium and build the [...]

NCAC celebrated 25 years of activism for free speech, artistic freedom, and the First Amendment with a gala party at the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts in New York City on November 29th.

NCAC welcomes five prominent advocates for free expression to its Board of Directors.

NCAC Censorship News Issue #65: OF MICE AND MEN "Inappropriate" in Illinois Spring 1997 Another attempt to keep students from reading books selected by their teacher has happened in Peru, Illinois where eighth-grade teacher, Dan Brooks, has been told to stop teaching Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. After 13 years of using the book, Brooks was told it was "inappropriate" [...]

For those who care about free expression, it's been a pretty good century. I was recently reminded of this by NCAC Board member, Chris Finan, president of American Booksellers for Free Expression.

NCAC has lost two dear friends who cared deeply for the First Amendment.

NCAC Censorship News Issue #65: Oklahoma University Bans Sex on the 'Net Spring 1997 The fight to protect free speech on the Internet was set back in January when a federal district court judge ruled that Oklahoma University's newsgroup is not a public forum. The case was brought by journalism professor Bill Loving when the University blocked access to almost [...]

Great news from Congress: In a tremendous victory for free speech, the proposed constitutional amendment to ban flag desecration was defeated, ending the perennial cliffhanger when Senators Robert Byrd, West Virgina, and Richard Bryan, Nevada, switched and voted against it.

NCAC Censorship News Issue #65: We Will Miss Tom Stoddard, Humanist Spring 1997 Thomas B. Stoddard, a member of NCAC's Advisory Council and former head of Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, died in February. A trailblazer for human rights for lesbians and gays and for people with AIDS, his commitment and leadership was unsurpassed. Tom leaves a hole in [...]

Best-selling author Judy Blume has joined the Board of Directors. Other members recently elected to the Board are Victor A. Bolden, former Assistant Counsel to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.; Chris Finan, President of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression; attorney Jerry Goldfeder; author and attorney Marjorie Heins; and ZD Net senior editor Josh Taylor.