NCAC has sent a letter to Elgin Mayor David Kaptain supporting the mural's return in advance of the City Council's vote on its fate on July 13th.
Mark Ryden: Fountain, 2003. Oil on Panel, 12x6.25 inches. ©Mark Ryden. In a replay of former New York Mayor Guiliani's attempt to grab attention by attacking "blasphemous" art, Ben Loyola, a member of the Virginia Beach Arts and Humanities Commission, is directing his ire against the work of LA-based painter Mark Ryden, featured in Turn the Page: The First Ten Years of [...]
Reports out this week claiming that the social media giant selectively removes conservative news items from #trending topics has drawn accusations of censorship, most distressingly from a member of Congress charged with oversight of issues relating to technology, communications and the Internet.
A junior at New Albany High near Columbus organized an Amnesty International affiliate group at her school to discuss human rights and came under fire for promoting what some people thought to be an "anti-Israel" message. The school's principal ultimately reversed his decision to "protect" the student "from getting caught up in political lightning rod topics" and will allow the club to form next fall.
We received some great news from Kentucky this morning: a reconsideration committee in Marion County voted to keep John Green’s highly acclaimed first novel Looking for Alaska on its high school shelves last night. The book received a complaint from a parent who not only refused to let his child read the book, but determined it was "filth" and good [...]
We’re proud to partner with the Human Rights Campaign’s Welcoming Schools initiative in a nationwide day readings of I Am Jazz, one of the most challenged books in the country.
One parent doesn't want any students -- or adults -- to read John Green's renowned young adult novel.
The City of West Hollywood planned exhibitions in celebration of Women's History Month - and then yanked art by a female artist representing women.
Students in the Bronx wanted to protest a visit by Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz. But their school pulled the plug.
A few days ago we wrote about artist Nicole Touchet 's recent brush with censorship in Free the Nipple: Nude Paintings Raise Temperatures in Lafayette. The artists of Lafayette have since rallied around the cause of freedom of expression with a city-wide Nude ArtWalk. For this occasion we offer our statement on nudes and censorship: The Human Body is Not [...]
Another year, another challenge to Looking for Alaska. This time, a parent in conservative Marion County, Kentucky, is challenging its use in a 12th grade classroom.
And Indiana artist gets a message from her landlord: "You have to take down the nude pictures you have in your gallery. Part of the agreement to rent you the space was to not display nude pictures.”
NCAC welcomes the news that Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe has vetoed HB516, which would have required parental notification whenever "sexually explicit material" was being taught in the state's public schools.
The widely publicized cancellation of the controversial documentary is likely to backfire for those concerned that the ideas in the film are fraudulent and wrong.
Does art that offends belong in a government building? That's the debate unfolding in Denver, after a student's painting that likens police to the Ku Klux Klan was displayed in the city's Webb Building.
Students upset about pro-Trump chalk messages at Emory University make headlines.
It looks like a Tennessee high school will have a gay-straight alliance club after all. But do the district's new rules for all clubs go too far?
A high school production of 'The Producers' is altered after parents complain about swastikas on stage.
New York legislation that would punish advocates of a boycott of Israel violate First Amendment rights
An award-winning graphic novel was removed from high school libraries in Florida after the parent of a third-grader complained. The district thankfully reversed its decision.
Some key free speech headlines from the week: Debates over the nature of the threat to campus free speech, Trump art blocked on Facebook, and more.
Students are speaking out against legislation that would require parental notification of the teaching of "sexually explicit content" in public schools.
A claim of copyright infringement attempts to shut down a show about the silencing of women.
Trouble With a Trump joke in a new movie? Plus an effort to protect student journalists in Maryland, and a plan to thwart teaching climate change in West Virginia schools.
The winners are here! The top three submissions in the 2015 Youth Free Expression Film Contest.
Author Catherine Ross speaks to NCAC about schools and free speech: "In many communities across the country, the adults who would like to censor student expression are much louder and more influential that the adults who hope that schools will allow students to learn how to exercise their rights."
What happens when a cop complains that student artwork is “propaganda?”
Trump Aims to Sue Journalists "Like You've Never Got Sued Before" Right Wing Watch reports Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump fired up supporters at a rally with a call to undo the First Amendment: “One of the things I’m going to do if I win, and I hope I do and we’re certainly leading, is I’m going to open up our [...]
A local businessman wants a Florida city council to bar performances in a publicly-owned theater that he deems inappropriate.
Two college presidents have decided that speakers selected by students should not appear on campus.
In Florida, a seemingly minor change to a policy regarding how schools handle book challenges could have far-reaching implications.
Free Speech Friday: LGBT Theater, Campus Free Speech, Scalia.
The video, as it was intended to do, has sparked a lively debate. Shouldn't a school seek to nurture that discussion instead of stifling it?
Some of the free speech and censorship news from the week that was.
At Franklin County High School in Tennessee, some students and parents are outraged by the very existence of the Gay-Straight Alliance.
A local TV news outlet is whipping up a frenzy in Florida schools over an award-winning graphic novel.
Free speech highlights from the week: Facebook deletes marijuana pages. Georgetown tells students they can't engage in political speech, a high school newspaper is censored.
Sometimes the real threat to free speech doesn't come from campus activists but administrators.
We're down to a dozen! Here are the semifinalists in this year's Youth Free Expression Film Contest.
Complaints from a few parents have apparently canceled a Connecticut high school's performance of 'American Idiot.'
