A recent incident a Berkeley's Addison Street Gallery forced the City to review its guidelines on art shown in the gallery. The guidelines, which included a blanket ban on any representations of guns, had led to the cancellation to The Art of Democracy, a touring poster show. After letters from the ACLU and NCAC, the City decided to modify [...]
Students at New Rochelle High School found that pages from their reading assignment, Girl Interrupted, had been ripped out. Turns out: school officials pulled the pages to remove content they deemed "inappropriate" because of sexual content and profanity. It appears that the books were censored without first undergoing a formal review process. NCAC is working on a formal response to [...]
juicy campus, tsu, aclu, first amendment, sarah falcon
Slate’s Emily Bazelon has a piece today on the Lori Drew case. The terrible backstory: in 2006, Drew, her daughter, and her assistant, created a fake Myspace profile of a 16 year old boy and sent messages to a teen neighbor, Megan Meier. After exchanging flirtatious messages, the “16-year-old” then wrote, “The world would be a better place without you.” [...]
Interesting post on Slashdot about how social network groups influence tastes of the members. The article's by Bennett Haselton (the founder of peacefire.org). The article cites a study showing that: They also noted that in the "social influence" worlds where users could see each others' downloads, increasing download numbers had a snowball effect that widened the difference between the successful [...]
2009 is approaching, and as we plan our next year, we want to know: what censorship issue is nearest and dearest to you? Your answers can help shape this blog and the kind of projects NCAC pursues. Feel free to write in answers. And send it along to friends and frenemies. [polldaddy poll="1158458"]
TTYL, Lauren Myracle.
And for a high school in Portage, IN, it also equals attention from journalists and student rights advocates alike. There are two issues at hand. One is the banning of a book, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky, from the ninth grade English curriculum. The other is a decision by the school administration to institute a policy [...]
A friend of NCAC reading this blog at work saw the following: An 11th grade student was recently told to remove her bumper sticker from her car parked in the Wala Wala High School (WA) parking lot. The content of the sticker: "I **censored**ed Your Boyfriend." Content filtering at the office censored the anti-censorship blog. Brilliant.
In a very strong letter to the Des Moines Register, parent Wendy Sontag defends keeping And Tango Makes Three in the Ankeny Public School libraries. She writes: Like the Russells, I consider myself a "values-conscious Christian parent." However it is clear that the Russells do not speak for me. My two bright, caring daughters began their academic careers at East [...]
Jane Breskin Zalben is a well-known author and illustrator who has published more than forty-five books for young readers. She is the author of the well-known Pearl books as well as the critically acclaimed novel Unfinished Dreams. In this interview, she speaks with The Kids' Right to Read Project about the effects of censorship on her work.
Walla Walla, WA. A high school student is suspended for a bumper sticker on her car. Its contents: “I fucked your boyfriend” Camp Lejeune, NC. Civilian employee and Marine Corps veteran, Jesse Nieto, is ordered to remove stickers from his vehicle of a slightly more political charged nature: (AP) The messages displayed at least a half-dozen anti-Muslim decals including “ISLAM [...]
President Thabo Mbeki’s suppression of scientific information about AIDS has led to the deaths of thousands of people in South Africa. According to a new study conducted by Harvard researchers, the South African government could have prevented 330,000 premature deaths of AIDS patients had it supplied them with antiretroviral drugs. Those same drugs could have prevented pregnant women from infecting [...]
Something is missing from the school lib in Round Rock, TX. Last week, school Superintendent Dr. Jesús Chávez pulled TTYL by Lauren Myracle from district middle school libraries. All of ‘em. That equals a book ban. A.k.a. censorship! The super and some parents think the book is just ‘trouble’. But that’s up to each student 2 decide 2gether with his [...]
At DuPage College – a community college outside of Chicago – the board has recently proposed a policy change that would give far more power to the board of trustees. This would influence “such questions as the future of the curriculum, the role of the student newspaper, how outside speakers should be selected, and so forth”. And, perhaps most significantly, [...]
by Sarah Falcon On Wednesday, three Reform Jewish leaders testified in Austin, Texas against a language change in the school curriculum which would require teaching "strengths and limitations" of scientific theories. Texas' current curriculum requires teaching the "strengths and weaknesses" of scientific theories. Testimonies from two of the rabbis is excerpted below:
We've addressed the study that links sex on TV to teen pregnancy, and came on the side of education rather than fear about content on TV. Not everyone agrees: In reference to the article, “Study suggests TV shows may spur teen pregnancies,” is censorship still in existence as it was many years ago? If not, perhaps it’s time to go [...]
Listening to: MC Luscious An 11th grade student was recently told to remove her bumper sticker from her car parked in the Walla Walla High School (WA) parking lot. The content of the sticker: “I Fucked Your Boyfriend.” There was little controversy about the student’s expression until she was told by school officials to remove the bumper sticker or face [...]
TSU bans Juicy Campus on the university Internet network, in response to a concerned parent. Juicy Campus CEO disagrees. F.I.R.E. says, "it was only a matter of time."
In downtown LA, a new community space set up by the local chapter of Food Not Bombs (a group committed to “sharing free vegetarian food with hungry people and protesting war and poverty”) was playing host to a hip hop concert last Sunday night. The goal was to raise money for an upcoming anarchist bookfair. Guests and performers at the [...]
A study published this month in PLoS Medicine, documents self-censorship of scientists in response to a political controversy. According to Joanna Kempner, the study’s author, the controversy at issue began in July 2003 when Patrick Toomey, a Republican Congressman, proposed the discontinuance of five NIH grants that were unworthy of taxpayer funding. As a result, the Director of NIH received [...]
From Salon.com: Hours after Salon revealed evidence that two Americans were killed by a U.S. tank, not enemy fire, military officials destroyed papers on the men. Editor's note: On Oct. 14, 2008, Salon published an article about the deaths of Army Pfc. Albert Nelson and Pfc. Roger Suarez. The Army attributed their deaths in Iraq in 2006 to enemy action; [...]
The Department of Health and Human Services proposed a rule in August that values a religious doctor’s choice to refuse provision of services over a woman’s right to receive care. The proposed rule would protect the jobs of doctors who, on the basis of religious beliefs or moral convictions, refuse to provide abortion or sterilization services. In fact, those doctors [...]
Irrepressible artwork from Indexed. The allure of big fuss.
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 – [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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) [...]
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 [...]
