Banned book equation
Irrepressible artwork from Indexed. The allure of big fuss.
Penguins Under Fire
Once again, picture-book penguins have come under fire. In Ankeny, Iowa, parents of one kindergartner want And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell banned from East Elementary School. At the very least, they want the book moved to a restricted section of the school library. Tango tells the true story of Roy and Silo, two male from [...]
Piercings ban student’s husband out of school dances.
Hubbard High School in Ohio is currently banning Casey Engstrom,19, from escorting his 17-year-old wife, Brittany, to any dances her senior year. The reason? Well apparently Hubbard High has a strict dress code policy against all forms of facial jewelry. Casey offered to remove the jewelery but Superintendent Richard Buchenic said that Casey will not be allowed to attend for [...]
Gang Activity? Or Just Trying to Keep Warm?
After a student-led protest in Montgomery, NY, Valley Central High School lifted a blanket ban on neck scarves, which had been interpreted as "gang paraphernalia" by the school administration. The protest, which included a refusal from many students to obey the new “no-scarf” policy, as well as a petition garnering 300+ signatures, resulted in the school board investigating [...]
Scott Eckern: from the Commentariat
Comments from the blogosphere: wildrumpus 1 point Please login to rate. Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment. OK then. As a gay man in Michigan my reaction to this is: Wow, you got a $1000 donor to quit his job! What have you actually fixed other than punishing someone from exercising his 1st amendment [...]
Musical Theatre Drama: The Scott Eckern Saga
Artistic director of California Musical Theatre, Scott Eckern, resigned Monday after his donation towards Proposition 8 – which will overturn gay marriage in California – was disclosed. Following the discovery of his $1000 contribution, many in the theatre community began calling for a boycott of Eckern and the theatre. Despite an apology from Eckern, pressure continued and he ultimately resigned [...]
Grendel kept in the curriculum
We were delighted to hear that the Sherwood, Oregon School Board voted last night 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 a different book to read. Their views are not shared by all – [...]
Racism, Obama and free expression
The victory of Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election has shown us signs of improving race relations in this country. Sadly this isn't the case some areas of the south where the election of the United States first black president have increased already high racial tensions. In North Carolina State University, four students spray-painted threatening and racist graffiti aimed at the [...]
Cuba and Academic Freedom
There’s been a new development in the ongoing debate about whether colleges should be allowed to have study abroad programs in Cuba. On November 10th a federal appeals court upheld a decision that has limited academic travel to Cuba. Currently, a Bush administration federal rule only allows academic travel to Cuba if the trip lasts over ten weeks, and states [...]
ACLU sues school for violating First Amendment
The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit against Fall Brook High School for violating free speech rights by getting rid of its journalism class and removing the faculty advisor to the school's newspaper after disputes over two articles. The first article was about the school board's refusal to close Fall Brook High School during the wildfires last year and [...]
Portrait Scandale: Picasso’s Stalin drawing at Cooper Union
Cooper Union takes down a banner of Stalin, a reproduction of a drawing by Picasso that was part of an exhibit designed by Norwegian artist Lene Berg. The explanation: In a statement issued to Cooper Union staff members and students, the university said it removed the banner after the Buildings Department, which had received complaints about it, pointed out the [...]
Rogue censorship
Editorial from the Detroit Free Press: Television broadcasts shouldn't be filled with curse words uttered without regard to purpose, time of day or relevance. But it's equally true that the Federal Communications Commission, which has adopted increasingly aggressive but vaguely defined standards for punishing broadcasters who air curse words, shouldn't have such a free hand in suppressing speech. [...] Assuring [...]
Barack Obama on stem cell research
From Agence France-Presse: Barack Obama holds his first post-election meeting with President George W. Bush Monday even as aides said he would reverse current White House policy on oil drilling and stem cell research. [...] But as both incoming Democrats and outgoing Republicans struck a tone of civility, Obama's transition chief signaled that the president-elect could wipe away some hallmarks [...]
Blame TV.
As the Washington Post reported earlier this week, a recent study that correlates pregnancy rates among sexually active teens to the amount of TV sex they watched disregards a key issue: teen access to contraceptives and information on contraception. According to the study, which was published in Pediatrics, the more sexual content on TV that sexually active teens watch, the [...]
Internet Censorship
From Good Magazine. A beautifully-made video on international internet censorship. Two of the companies cited for supporting internet censorship systems - Microsoft and Google - have joined other companies and organizations to support the Global Network Initiative: The Initiative is founded upon new Principles on Freedom of Expression and Privacy – supported by specific implementation commitments and a framework for [...]
Stem Cell Research in Michigan? Yes we can!
On November 4, Michigan voters enacted a proposed constitutional amendment to legalize human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research in their state. The amendment allows the use of human embryos for research in Michigan so long as the embryos: (1) were created for fertility treatment; (2) are in excess of those required for implantation; (3) are not suitable for implantation; (4) [...]
The Supreme Court debates fleeting expletives
CommLaw Blog is covering FCC v Fox Television in the Supreme Court. But as Marjorie Heins points out at the Free Expression Policy Project, it looks like the case will turn on what should be censored for "indecency" rather than whether or not the FCC's censorship poses a threat to the First Amendment. She writes: Anyone hoping to hear outrage [...]
So now what?
The most enjoyable part of my election night was walking away from hipster Williamsburg and past a laundromat where Obama's acceptance speech was playing. Inside the laundromat was a young Orthodox Jewish couple, a biracial lesbian couple, a handful of young adults looking up at a TV. As strange as this scene felt - either a classic 1980s tableau of [...]
In the Supreme Court: Wyeth v. Levine
Dahlia Lithwick, who's covering Wyeth v. Levine in the Supreme Court describes the case like this: "Wyeth is being called the most important business case of the year because, if the court finds that the FDA warning occupies the field of drug warnings, it will effectively immunize drug makers from many state tort suits. If it finds pre-emption here, the most business-friendly Supreme Court in decades can cancel the room with two queen-size beds and order a single king for itself and big pharma".
Teens Discuss Gay Marriage
Shelbi Kepler - this year's 2nd place film contest winner - takes on our challenge to one more video response to this dramatic election. Here's her video on gay marriage:
Dan Rather’s Remarks at the Annual Celebration
Here is the full text of Dan Rather's remarks at NCAC's Annual Celebration of Free Speech and Its Defendents: Thank you to the National Coalition Against Censorship for this honor; I am humbled. I do not think myself worthy of this recognition, but I will try to become worthy of it. This is a cause that speaks to the core [...]
NCAC Benefit Photos
We had our Annual Free Speech benefit last week and we have pictures to prove it. It was held at the incredible Rubin Museum of Art. Honorees were Ruth Gruber, Caroline Hirsch, Anthony Lewis, Barney Rosset, and finally Dan Rather. The winning films from the youth film contest "My Vote For Free Speech" premiered and the first place winners won [...]
Film Contest Winners
1st place: Silence by Peter Block and Connie Saltzman 2nd place: Lost Expression by Shelby Kepler 3rd place: XYZ by Corey Steinhouse, Cameron Robinson, and Mercy Emelike.
Banned Books Week
In keeping with the theme of banned books. I've selected I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou written shortly after the Civil Rights era and was inspired the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It was nominated for a National Book Award in 1970 and remained on The New York Times paperback bestseller list for two [...]
Banned Book Thursday!!
This week's banned book is the 2004 novel ttyl (talk to you later) by Lauren Myracle. This is the first novel ever written as instant messenger style conversations between three fictional characters. ttyl was New York Times, Publishers Weekly, and Book Sense bestseller, and has had two sequels, ttfn and l8r, g8r. The book follows the friendship of [...]
Isn’t book banning retro?
No. As The Birmingham News reports: According to the ALA's office for intellectual freedom, there were 420 documented attempts to ban books from libraries nationwide last year, and up to four times as many unreported attempts". What gets banned? "Topping the list typically are novels written for young adults, and fantasy books such as the Harry Potter series. The Potter [...]
Homophobic Attacks on Artistic Expression
Attacks on artistic expression are proliferating at a frightening rate, and any connection with lesbian or gay matters brings campaigns for suppression. This censorship is affecting the visual and performing arts, museums and movies, television and art exhibits and it is occurring in small towns and big cities everywhere in the country. Last year in Cincinnati, Ohio, the owner, manager, [...]
Interview With Julia Alvarez
Julia Alvarez is a highly-acclaimed author of over a dozen books and numerous essays and poems.
XM Radio Shock Jocks Suspended
Contradicting widely advertised claims of an “uncensored” broadcast, XM Satellite Radio has suspended “shock jock” duo Opie and Anthony for 30 days.
Father Seeks 20k in Damages For Lesbian Sex Book
The father of two teenage boys wants $20,000 from his city after his sons found a book on lesbian sex on a public library bookshelf. Earl Adams of Bentonville, Ark., is also requesting that the library director be fired, ac cording to KOCO TV in Oklahoma City. The boys, ages 14 and 16, were searching for material on military academies [...]
The Global Democracy Promotion Act
The Global Democracy Promotion Act, first introduced in 2001, may finally be gaining traction in Congress. The bill would ensure that the United States cannot impose standards on organizations outside its borders that it would not stand for imposing within its borders; allow funding for organizations that provide services that are legal in their own country and also legal in ours; and end the punishment of health care providers that observe the same standards of medical ethics and seek the same freedom of speech that apply in the United States.
MPAA Weighs Ratings Reform
According to Variety Magazine, the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) and NATO (National Association of Theater Owners) are instituting changes to the longstanding film ratings system: A year ago at Sundance, Kirby Dick made noise with his documentary "This Film Is Not Yet Rated," which took direct aim at the Motion Picture Assn. of America's ratings system for being [...]
Hearings on Censorship of Global Warming Scientists Turn Up Heat on White House
Hearings this week, held by the new Democratic chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Rep. Henry Waxman, have documented long-standing charges that the White House routinely injects political considerations into the work of federal science agencies in an attempt to censor government scientists and mislead the public about the extent of the danger posed by [...]
Democrats’ call for cancellation of 9/11 documadrama: Is it censorship?
Do Senate Democrats' calls for ABC to cancel or edit its docudrama The Path to 9/11 constitute censorship?
Deleting Online Predators Act
Update: On July 27, the House voted 410-15 in favor of the Deleting Online Predators Act. Having passed in the House, the bill now goes to the Senate. Hopefully, DOPA will not be rushed through the Senate as it was in the House, giving Senators time to think beyond the bill’s name and understand its true implications. The Deleting Online [...]
Colbert Hoists Free Speech Flag
The web is still abuzz with discussion of Stephen Colbert's keynote address at the annual White House Correspondents Association dinner. If you missed his performance, you can see it here. The roast has generated such a preponderance of discussion, criticism (of both the press corps and Colbert himself), and even fawning admiration, it seems useful to point our readers [...]
Video Games Protected Against Censorship From Michigan Statutes
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan granted the Entertainment Software Association’s (ESA) request for a preliminary injunction to block implementation of the recently enacted Michigan statute seeking to ban the sale of certain video games to minors.
California Judge Upholds First Amendment for Video Games
First Amendment Protected in Case Involving Video Game Violence Judge Whyte of the District Court of Northern California granted a preliminary injunction preventing a California statute from going into effect on January 1, 2006. The Act required that violent video games be labelled, and prevented the sale or rental of these video games to minors. In his decision, Judge Whyte [...]
Judge Upholds First Amendment in Case on Video Game Violence
Video Games Upheld as Protected Speech In a decision hailed by free speech advocates, the Illinois District Court Judge Kennelly issued a strongly worded 53 page opinion in which he concluded that both the restrictions on violent and non obscene sexually explicit games violate the First Amendment and granted a permanent injunction against their implementation. In his opinion, Judge Kennelly [...]
Violence and Fear Escalate in Wake of Cartoon Controversy
Free Speech or Blasphemy? Censorship or Discretion? Click here for a statement from NCAC on the controversy surrounding the Mohammed cartoons, featured in Censorship News #101. We are presenting here a selection of the material published on the issue, and reports of incidents of censorship in connection with the cartoons. Resources An extraordinarily thorough summary of the controversy is [...]