The 2008 YFEN Film Contest "My Vote For Free Speech!" In this election year, we asked young people to film a message to the next president about the free speech issue they though most important to the country. We received films from around the country, covering a diverse range of issues such as FCC Censorship, Wire Tapping, the Right to [...]
Interview with Brent Hartinger, author of Geography Club.
Interview with Maria Hanrahan, founder of West Bend Parents for Free Speech
NCAC joins groups in calling on the White House to reverse a Bush Administration policy that removed the White House's Office of Administration ("OA") from the list of agencies subject to the Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA").
NCAC joined transparency organizations in a letter asking the Senate Rules Committee to hold public hearings on open government issues and to mark-up and pass a resolution that would improve public access to reports by the Congressional Research Service (CRS).
National Coalition Against Censorship joined the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the Association of American Publishers and PEN American Center in criticizing the dismissal of four members of a library board for refusing to remove controversial books from the young adult section of the library in West Bend, Wisconsin. In a letter to the West Bend Common Council, the groups said that the dismissals threatened free speech in two ways--by punishing the library board members for attempting to apply objective criteria in the selection of books and by pressuring the library to remove the controversial books.
NCAC criticized the dismissal of four members of a library board for refusing to remove controversial books from the young adult section of the library in West Bend, Wisconsin. The controversy began in February when two patrons complained that the library’s young adult section includes both fiction and non-fiction about gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender issues.
Contemporary Threats to Free Expression A Symposium for College Professors May 1-2, 2009 Capital Community College in Hartford, Connecticut Speaker Bios Francis G. Couvares E. Dwight Salmon Professor of History and American Studies, Amherst College Christopher M. Finan President, American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression Martin B. Margulies Professor Emeritus and Adjunct Professor of Law, Quinnipiac [...]
James Parlin's sculpture "The Middle School Science Teacher Makes a Decision He'll Live to Regret" provoked controversy and censorship when it was included in an exhibition of the artists' work at Bowling Green State University Firelands. Some even claimed the image was illegal child porn and condemned NCAC for opposing the censorship.
The National Coalition Against Censorship asks you to support Governor Huntsman’s veto of House Bill 353. We agree with the Governor that H. B. 353 poses both constitutional and practical problems.
Contemporary Threats to Free Expression A Symposium for College Professors May 1-2, 2009 Capital Community College in Hartford, Connecticut Friday, May 1 1:30 – 1:45 PM: Welcome (Don Noel and Joan Bertin) 1:45 – 3:15 PM: Historical overview of the development of contemporary First Amendment law (Chris Finan) 3:15 – 3:30 PM: Break 3:30 – 5:00 PM: Censorship in [...]
Writing that "the language of this bill is so broad that it likely will be struck down by the courts as an unconstitutional violation of the Dormant Commerce Clause and/or the First Amendment," Utah Governor Jon Huntsman has vetoed bill HB 353.
High school students, educators, and free speech advocates from around the city will gather at the New York Film Academy on Saturday, March 28 for Youth Voices Uncensored, an afternoon of film screenings and discussions about how youth media can address important social and political issues.
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at UNCW Resigns Brian Chapman, Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, resigned this week after a less than a year-long tenure. The resignation came shortly after the UNCW Faculty Senate passed a motion admonishing the UNCW administration for not consulting with the Women's Resource Center, [...]
Does your state still require you to say the Pledge of Allegeiance? According to the Supreme Court deicsion WEST VIRGINIA STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION V. BARNETTE (1943) (see below in "lawsuits worth knowing about") it is unconstitutional to make students recite the pledge of allegiance. However, some states still have statutes that require students participate in the pledge at school. [...]
Free speech organizations joined in criticizing a decision by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals upholding the Miami-Dade County School Board’s banning of the children’s picture book Vamos a Cuba.
Were there times you were afraid to speak up? Do you sometimes wish you spoke your mind more? Do you wish you censored yourself more? Have you changed what you’ve written for fear it would get you into trouble? In your art, music, writing, or filmmaking do you ever stop yourself from doing what you want because you are [...]
Night Talk by Elizabeth Cox was challenged in fall 2008 for its sexual content by one parent who requested that the book be removed from the library at South Gwinnett High School. A school-based committee denied the request in November 2008 and decided to keep the book in the library.
The Kids' Right to Read Project sent a letter to the System Review Committee and Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning, opposing the challenges:
The Censorship in Camouflage Project consist of a series of discussions and publications exploring structural, economic, political and cultural factors—in addition to the more frequently debated legal issues—constraining artistic expression.
NCAC joined over 260 organizations in supporting an amendment to the economic stimulus legislation that would increase whistleblower protections for federal employees. On January 28, 2009, the House of Representatives unanimously adopted this amendment.
Newman-Crows Landing Unified School District Superintendent removed Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya from district high school classes after one parent objected to the book as “anti-Catholic.” The ACLU of Northern California and PEN American Center joined in sending a letter to the school board opposing the ban.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky was banned from ninth grade classrooms at Portage High School in Portage, IN, in late November 2008. The book was challenged by one parent who objected to sexual content in the novel, and the school board decided to remove the book from the curriculum. In response to an article published in the school newspaper, the Pow Wow, which reported on the review process for The Perks of Being a Wallflower, school administrators imposed a new policy requiring that all future newspaper content be subject to prior review. In December 2008, the Kids' Right to Read Project sent a letter to the school board and superintendent opposing the banning of the book and the new prior review policy for the newspaper.
Teachers at New Rochelle High School in New Rochelle, NY, removed pages from Girl, Interrupted, reportedly due to complaints about sexual content and profanity. The school board issued a statement opposing the censorship and announced that full text copies will replace the censored copies.
The Kids’ Right to Read Project is a collaboration of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) and the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC). The Kids' Right to Read Project offers support, education, and advocacy to people facing book challenges or bans and engages local activists in promoting the freedom to read. In the past couple of years, KRRP [...]
For the most up-to-date Kids' Right to Read Project Report, click here. Individual Book Challenges (Alphabetical by Title) The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (Hachette) Banned in Prineville, Oregon, December 2008 School officials in Crook County, OR, removed The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie from ninth grade English classes at [...]
Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane was challenged for use in ninth grade English classes at Lincoln High School in Thief River Falls, MN. Some parents objected to sexual violence and graphic language in the book. NCAC and ABFFE wrote a letter to the school board, urging that the book be retained in the curriculum.
Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya was banned from high school classes in Newman-Crows Landing (CA) Unified School District. NCAC and ABFFE sent a letter to the Modesto Bee:
As part of a larger effort to educate students and educators about censorship and how it affects our lives, we have developed interactive workshops for high school and college students and faculty. Below are workshop agendas available for your use. Feel free to add to them, or adjust to your particular needs. Resisting Censorship on Campus A workshop for university [...]
The following is a letter to the major of Berkeley, CA, voicing concern over City Arts Commission’s blanket ban on art containing guns.
What do you think of the state of free speech and democracy in the United States? 1st Place: "C: None of the Above" A narrative film by the 2004 Youth Sounds Factory Summer Program in Oakland California. After a series of intense discussions on the various forms of censorship that affect their lives, nine youth created a blocked-out world that [...]
Does Free Speech Matter? 1st Place: Riley Harmon, "Carbon Nation" (click here to visit Riley's website) 2nd Place: Robert Hornung, "Today" 3rd Place: Cameron Loftus, "Freedom in a Word, in a Line, in a Poem for America" Video Coming Soon! Film Contest Home | 2007 Winners | 2006 Winners | 2004 Winners
War and (Free) Speech: Can They Co-Exist? First Place Conversations of Meinungsfreiheit Lily Erlinger, Miami, FL Second Place Fall in Line Andy Musser, Golden, CO Third Place Salesmanship Abigail Horton and Ned Resnikoff, Middletown, CT Film Contest Home | 2007 Winners | 2005 Winners | 2004 Winners
How Does Censorship Affect Me? First Place Mute By Helen Gebregiorgis Second Place Gay/Straight Alliance By Jamie Li Third Place The Dangers of Promiscuity By Sean Brekke-Miesner and Nam Pham Film Contest Home | 2006 Winners | 2005 Winners | 2004 Winners
Once Upon a Time (Not So Long Ago) By Shajiah Jaffri, for the Youth Free Expression Network October 3, 2008 Once upon a time (not so long ago) a book was written. It was an excellent book, listed in the Top Ten of the New York Times Best Seller’s List. It was a realistic book that narrated the teenage [...]
The 2012 YFEP Film Contest Judges! Jake Gogats and Caitlin Wolper won 1st Place in the National Coalition Against Censorship's 2011 Youth Free Expression Film Contest. Sherman Alexie is a celebrated poet and author whose works frequently draw on his experiences growing up on an Indian reservation in Washington State. His first young adult novel, The Absolutely True Diary of A [...]
The public has a right to know non-classified, scientific information generated by government researchers. This article discusses suppression of medical information generated by Army researchers in a recent article about the Army’s policy for conducting pre-publication review of medical data. Read the article here. Read NCAC's statement on this policy here.
In Wyeth v. Levine, the Supreme Court will determine whether tort litigation against drug manufacturers is and should be preempted. A holding for Wyeth could mean that parties injured by FDA-approved pharmaceuticals no longer could sue drug makers for failure to warn about risks associated with their products. Potential plaintiffs no longer would have access to litigation to compel the [...]
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 [...]
President Steven B. Sample Office of the President University of Southern California University Park Campus Los Angeles, California 90089 by Mail and Fax (213-821-1342) Dear President Sample: On behalf of the National Coalition Against Censorship, an alliance of over 50 national non-profit organizations united in defense of free expression, I would like to express our deep concern over the [...]
The patriotism of dissent: artists respond to the political present (2003).
