‘Purity’ Panic Over Omaha Sex Ed Curriculum
Parents in Omaha are fired up about proposed changes to the sexual education curriculum. Are they trying to keep their kids "pure," or are they calling for censorship?
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LGBT Library Censorship Effort Fails in Texas
Would-be censors in Texas lose in their effort to remove LGBT children's books from the public library. But the fight in Hood County may be far from over.
“Free Speech Forever” Youth Film Contest Winners
Winners of the 11th Annual Youth Film Contest 1. Anne Wade (Cullowhee, North Carolina) "Don't Let Them Take Your Voice" ARTIST STATEMENT: “My film is a black and white silent film that was created out of a desire to speak out against censorship in schools across the nation using a unique and creative idea that engaged myself and [...]
Expelling Oklahoma Frats
According to black students, the problems they face on campus — like poor retention and graduation rates and less financial aid — existed before the video surfaced. Perhaps there’s a problem at OU that goes beyond the reprehensible acts of some students on a party bus.
Aurora Students: Censored, Then Uncensored?
Theater students get word that their show is canceled due to inappropriate content. But once the news hits the local TV, the administration changes its tune.
Defying Intolerance, Children’s Book About Dress-Wearing Boy Kept in Classroom
Last December, a guidance counselor in rural Pennsylvania read a children’s book about a dress-wearing boy to a kindergarten class without advance notice to the parents, upsetting some residents in the district.
Top 10 Banned Books that Changed the Face of Black History
Black History Month is as good a time as any to remember that some of the most frequently banned, censored or challenged books were written by African-American authors.
Two Wins for Free Speech in Delaware
Good news from Delaware: One school district dropped a plan to limit students' access to certain books, and in another district the effort to alter health curriculum in accord with religious objections appears to have failed.
First Amendment, Civil Liberties Groups Condemn Proposed Policy Changes in Virginia
Hanover School District’s Fix Could Actually Make Things Worse NEW YORK, January 13, 2015 — The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) is cautioning school officials in Hanover County, VA that policy changes intended to reduce complaints about instructional materials could actually do the opposite. At a school board meeting tonight, three changes to board policies are being mulled over in response to controversies surrounding the use [...]
NCAC Writes to Hanover, VA: School District’s Fix Could Actually Make Things Worse
School officials resisted a challenge to a documentary film. But their new policies on instructional materials, while intended to reduce complaints, could actually do the opposite--giving would-be censors more power over what is taught in class.
EFF Joins Amicus Brief in Support of Student Speech on Social Media
This week EFF joined an amicus brief in support of a college student who was expelled from school for comments he made on Facebook.
Craig Keefe was a nursing student at a public college in Minnesota when he posted several comments on his Facebook profile expressing frustration about certain aspects of the nursing program, including what he considered to be favoritism of female students. Keefe also engaged in a dispute with one of his classmates, calling her a "stupid bitch." While his Facebook profile was publicly viewable, he was off-campus when he posted his comments and did not use any school resources.
Keefe’s Facebook comments were brought to the attention of school administrators, who concluded that the comments constituted "behavior unbecoming of the profession and transgression of professional boundaries."
Keefe sued the school administrators under 42 U.S.C. §1983, a federal statute that gives citizens a right to sue state government institutions or officials for violations of individual rights under the federal Constitution. He argued that the expulsion violated his free speech and due process rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments. A federal trial judge in Minnesota disagreed and ruled in favor of the school administrators.
We joined the Student Press Law Center, American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, and the National Coalition Against Censorship in filing the amicus brief in support of Keefe in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. The brief argues that the First Amendment protects Keefe because his comments, in part, related to matters of public concern, including alleged gender discrimination in the nursing program. The brief also highlights Supreme Court precedent that states that college students have greater free speech rights than minor students, and that off-campus speech receives greater protection than on-campus speech.
While courts across the country have been struggling with determining how much jurisdiction public school officials should have over the social media lives of students, we believe that Keefe’s case involves a clear violation of his constitutional rights.
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Victory: Bogus Sanctions Against Pro-Palestinian Group for ‘Political’ Speech Dropped at Montclair State
After facing sanctions from the Montclair State University (MSU) Student Government Association (SGA), members of the Montclair Students for Justice in Palestine (MSJP) chapter are once again able to practice their free speech rights on the New Jersey public institution’s campus. On September 22, MSJP members handed out pamphlets at the group’s registered table in the MSU’s student center. The pamphlets described the group’s values, planned activities, and views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Upon receiving complaints about the overtly political and “offensive” nature of the pamphlets, SGA Attorney General Demi M. Washington sent a “Letter of Sanction” to MSJP, condescending […]
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The National Campaign for Freedom of Expression
Assisting artists and organizations facing attacks on their artistic freedom is at the core of NCFE’s mission. NCFE was founded in 1990 in response to attacks on the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. The organization originated as a weekly conference call among arts activists who were concerned that arts organizations were trading basic [...]
It’s Perfectly Normal for Books to Go Through Changes Too
Sex-Ed was always and will always be the proverbial Catch-22 of every pre-teenager and teenager’s education. They want to know about their bodies: how it works, what’s in store for the future, and whether what they are going through is normal. But we need to face the facts: it’s an awkward subject that no one wants to discuss. Luckily, author [...]
Facebook “True Threat” Case: NCAC Joins Brief to Supreme Court
When are threats on social media 'true' threats, and what can courts do to protect free speech? NCAC joined the American Civil Liberties Union and other organizations in filing an amicus brief with the Supreme Court in Elonis v. United States.
NCAC Staff’s Top 40 Censored Books
Whether you need a trip down memory lane or you’re ready to discover a new favorite, consider these rebellious reads that have been and continue to be challenged by parents, bureaucrats, and audiences alike.
Conflict Avoidance
Cancelled commencement speakers, a rush of attempts to put trigger warnings on class content, student petitions to remove potentially disturbing artwork from campus… What is going on? Academia is no stranger to free speech battles. In the 1950s professors could be ousted for “treasonous or seditious acts or utterances” or for being members of an organization advocating the violent overthrow [...]
NCAC, ACLU-SC and Allies Decry South Carolina Legislature’s Infringement On Academic Freedom
Political Micromanaging of College Curriculum and Punishing Colleges for Teaching Books with LGBT Content is an Assault on Academic Freedom June 9, 2014 Media Contacts: Michael O'Neil, Communications Director, National Coalition Against Censorship; [email protected], (212) 807 6222 x 107 Victoria Middleton, Executive Director, ACLU of South Carolina; [email protected], (843) 720 1424; The National Coalition Against Censorship, ACLU of South Carolina [...]
Top 40 Threats to Free Speech Right Now!
To celebrate NCAC's 40th Anniversary, we take a look at 40 threats to free speech.
40 Years on the Frontlines: Headlines from Censorship News
1975: “Burning Books in North Dakota” Bruce Severy was fired after having assigned James Dickey’s Deliverance and Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five to his high school English students. When the school’s burning of the books created nationwide publicity, residents of Drake, N.D. were “dumbfounded and vaguely upset by the notoriety.” 1979: “Classified at Birth: The Progressive Case” The controversy around the Progressive’s intended article on the [...]