A free-speech advocacy group is demanding the Utah State Board of Education change its guidance that says students can’t bring personal copies of banned books to school — arguing the guidance violates the students’ First Amendment rights.
The group — The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, or FIRE — sent a letter Monday to Davina Sauthoff, the USBE’s library media specialist. FIRE asserts that while “obscene” materials and speech are not protected under the First Amendment, Utah’s definition of “sensitive materials” doesn’t meet the legal standard for obscenity — so students still have the right to bring those books to school.
“[Schools] are not just removing books from classroom instruction — they are entirely banning students’ personal possession of non-obscene books on all school property,” the letter states.
USBE did not immediately respond Tuesday to requests for comment.
Eighteen books are currently banned from Utah’s public schools in accordance with a law passed last year. The titles include books written by acclaimed authors like Margaret Atwood, Judy Blume and Ellen Hopkins. The most recent book added to the list, in May, was Sara Gruen’s “Water for Elephants.”
Under Utah law, a book must be removed from all public schools in the state if at least three school districts (or at least two school districts and five charter schools) determine it amounts to “objective sensitive material” — pornographic or otherwise indecent content, as defined by Utah code.
Read more at sltrib.com
This article is published through the Utah News Collaborative, a partnership of news organizations in Utah that aims to inform readers across the state.