Two parents challenged the picture book, And Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, for use in elementary school libraries in Ankeny, Iowa. The parents objected to the story of two male penguins who parent a chick because they say the book is not "age-appropriate". NCAC and ABFFE wrote a letter to the Ankeny School Board opposing the challenges.
TTYL‚ by Lauren Myracle was removed from middle school libraries throughout Round Rock (TX) ISD. One student's parents challenged TTYL‚ because they objected to sexual content and profanity in the book. Two review committees evaluated the book and recommended that it be kept on library shelves. However, before the school board could review the matter, Superintendent Jesús Chávez had the book removed from middle school libraries throughout the district. The Kids' Right to Read Project sent a letter to the school board opposing the book's removal.
Some parents have objected to sexual content, profanity, and violence in The Bluest Eye and Beloved by Toni Morrison, The Color Purple by Alice Walker, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, and The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini in Burke County, NC, schools. The Kite Runner was reviewed (and subsequently approved for use in classrooms) in February 2008. The Kids' Right to Read Project sent a letter to the school board regarding the challenges.
Re: Sherwood School Board upholds use of novel Grendel (November 12) To the Editors: The Sherwood School Board should be applauded for its decision to keep the novel, Grendel by John Gardner, in Sherwood High School’s 10th grade accelerated English curriculum. Some parents object to sexual content and violence in the book, but their children were offered an alternative assignment. [...]
On March 4, 2009, the US Supreme Court ruled that Diana Levine could sue the parmaceutical company Wyeth for risks Wyeth knew but did not disclose. Because the label had been approved by the FDA, Wyeth claimed her suit should be barred. The Supreme Court disagreed.
Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult was challenged by one parent who objected to sexual references, profanity, and violence, including bullying and suicide, in the book and asked that it be removed from the Beardstown Middle/High School library in Beardstown, IL. A committee comprised of teachers, a school principal, a librarian, and a school psychologist reviewed the book and recommended that it be retained in the high school adult fiction section of the school library. The school board voted to retain the book in the high school section of the library, but students are required to get parental permission to check it out.
We write regarding complaints about a middle school health teacher who apparently responded to students’ questions in a sex education class about homosexuality, masturbation and oral sex. We understand some parents have called for her termination and that in response the district has put her on paid-administrative leave while conducting an investigation.
We are deeply concerned about the recent decision to suspend three students from Grover Cleveland High School because they wore homemade t-shirts which read, “My Vagina is Obscene,” to protest the censorship of the school newspaper Le Sabre. We understand that the school paper was confiscated because it featured a detailed diagram of a vagina and accompanying articles about “V-Day”, a national movement to raise awareness about violence toward women. In our view, both in censoring the school paper and suspending sophomore Richard Edmond and two of his peers for wearing these t-shirts, you have violated the students’ basic First Amendment and state free speech rights.
Objecting to racially sensitive language in the book, a parent has challenged Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn place in the 11th grade English curriculum at Manchester High School in Manchester, CT. The book is currently under review by the Superintendent's office.
Condemnation and cries for censorship formed a disturbing backdrop for the run-up to today's World Leaders Forum at Columbia University featuring Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
NCAC is concerned that in its efforts to curb child pornography, the government is pursuing a course that will apply overly broad restrictions to speech and images that are not obscene or pornographic, potentially criminalizing legitimate, constitutionally-protected forms of art and speech.
by Roland Stoy for The Reporter UPDATE: The painting was later showen at an art show less than a block away from the courthouse. According to the artist: "Everyone that saw the painting appreciated it and some folks had strong words for the courthouse officials that pulled the art from exhibit. I felt it was a real coup to display [...]
The state legislature of New York passed two bills in recent weeks seeking to further restrict the sale of video games containing "depraved violence" and "indecent images" to minors.
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 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 [...]
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’ [...]
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 [...]
A bi-partisan letter from U.S. Senators Olympia Snowe (R - Maine) and Jay Rockefeller (D - West Virginia) pressed Exxon-Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson to "end any further financial assistance" to groups "whose public advocacy has contributed to the small but unfortunately effective climate change denial myth."
As part of its 2007 budget proposal submitted on February 6, NASA eliminated the phrase “to understand and protect our home planet” from its mission statement; a move that alarmed several NASA employees. Unlike the 2002 changes to the NASA mission statement that included an open process across the agency, this decision was made by NASA Headquarters without consulting NASA [...]
Acting on complaints from a parent, Olentangy Ohio District Superintendent Scott Davis removed Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time and Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones from Liberty High School's optional summer reading list. Visit the Columbus Dispatch for details. Below is NCAC's letter to Superintendent Davis. Click here to send him an email [...]
University claims its choice to close an exhibit of visual art by Palestinian teenagers "isn't censorship." Brandeis student Lior Halperin (read an interview with Lior at Democracy Now!) curated "Voices from Palestine," an exhibit of visual art by Palestinian teenagers, to bring a different viewpoint to the campus. But four days into a two-week exhibition, school administrators have [...]
UPDATE:April 22nd, 2006: after winning a restraining order in federal court — so that administrators at Coral Academy of Science could not prevent him from reciting the poem of his choice — Jacob Behymer-Smith won 2nd place in the Nevada state finals of the "Poetry Out Loud" contest with his recitation of W.H. Auden's "The More Loving One." His performance [...]
Dr. James E. Hansen, director of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies, found himself under close scrutiny by his superiors at NASA due to his attempts to inform the public about global warming.
The book Athletic Shorts, by Chris Crutcher, has become controversial in Grand Rapids, Michigan, because one of the stories contains the word "nigger." After a parent complained, the teacher was suspended and the book was removed from the schools, including the libraries. Controversy over racially sensitive themes and language is not new. For example, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is [...]
February 15, 2005 Chancellor Phillip P. DiStefano Members of the Board of Regents University of Colorado Re: Professor Ward Churchill Dear Chancellor DiStefano and Members ...
A federal district court in Dallas dismissed a lawsuit against the state for rejecting an environmental science textbook the commissioners didn't like. The case, Chiras v. Miller, brought by Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, charged that the textbook was rejected for "illegitimate, unconstitutional reasons." The commissioners had turned the book down for failing to adequately present the oil and gas [...]
August 16, 2004 Mayor John W. Hickenlooper 1437 Bannock Street, Ste. 350 Denver, Colorado 80202 Dear Mayor Hickenlooper, The National Coalition Against Censorship, an alliance of 50 national non-profit organizations that collaborate to defend First Amendment rights, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado, have been alerted to the recent removal of several works of art from an installation [...]
by Tom Forsythe Free at last, or at least not saddled with over $2 million in battle costs. That's how much legal tender it took before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals wrote a scathing opinion that called Mattel's case against me potentially 'unreasonable and frivolous.' From the time Mattel sued me on August 24, 1999 up until that December [...]
As organizations committed to artistic, intellectual, and academic freedom, we are concerned about the extended and apparently unwarranted investigation of Buffalo-based artist Steve Kurtz and the chilling effect it is likely to have on other artists or scholars whose work explores the border of art and science or employs harmless biological and chemical materials.
Although Texas policies were revised to limit grounds for rejection to "factual inaccuracy" in 1995, censorship still flourishes in the Lone Star State. Publishers still revise textbooks in order to sell to the nation's second largest buyer. Last November, a science book was altered to appease anti-environmentalists. "Destruction of the rain forest could affect weather over the entire planet" was [...]
In July of this year, a measure in the House to defund five studies on sexual behavior introduced by Rep. Patrick Toomey (R-PA) came within three votes of passing. More recently, a list of 157 researchers using grant money to study sexuality and HIV/AIDS has been circulated by the Traditional Values Coalition, which termed them a “total abuse of taxpayer [...]
Nevada County, CA Show Cancelled Because of Nudes October 1, 2003 The work of 65 artists is to be taken down from Annual Open Studios Art show in California’s Nevada County Rood Administrative Center. The reason: the work of five of the artists contains partial nudity. Two of the paintings contain nudes viewed from the rear, the three other paintings [...]
Dear Member of Texas State Board of Education, We write to express our concern about the proposed changes to the Biology Textbook under consideration for adoption by the Texas State Board of Education. We urge you not to adopt the changes proposed by the Discovery Institute, because doing so will undermine the presentation of information about evolution. At the public [...]
Dear Member of Texas State Board of Education, We write to express our concern about the proposed changes to the Biology Textbook under consideration for adoption by the Texas State Board of Education. We urge you not to adopt the changes proposed by the Discovery Institute, because doing so will undermine the presentation of information about evolution. At the public [...]
Resources Letter to Chairman Roy Hartz Protesting Soap Box Derby Censorship July 16, 2003 Roy Hartz Chairman, Board of Trustees All-American Soap Box Derby Dear Mr. Hartz, The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression and the organizations listed below are writing to protest efforts by the All-American Soap Box Derby to censor Melanie Payne's book, Champions, Cheaters and Childhood [...]
Dear Commissioner Mills, Chancellor Bennett, Senator Kuhl, and Assemblyman Sanders: We have previously written to object to the routine censorship of literary passages on New York State English Language Arts Regents exams, which is questionable on pedagogical, intellectual and legal grounds. In our earlier correspondence, we documented numerous examples in which material was deleted apparently to eliminate any reference to [...]
