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New FTRF Litigation Freedom tonews Read Foundation VOL. 39, NO. 3 V OCTOBER 2014 FREE PEOPLE READ FREELY® New FTRF litigation: LITIGATION challenging Arizona’s Supreme Court “nude image” ban allows challenge On September 23, the Freedom to Read Founda- to Ohio law tion joined several bookstores and other organiza- tions in filing suit against Arizona H.B. 2515, which CENSORED BY District court then rules makes it a felony to “intentionally disclose, display, ARIZONA H.B. 2515? distribute, publish, advertise, or offer a photograph, law unconstitutional videotape, film or digital recording of another person in a state of nudity or engaged in specific On June 16, a unanimous U.S. Supreme sexual activities if the person knows or should have Court handed down its opinion in Susan known that the depicted person has not consented B. Anthony List v. Driehaus, holding that a to the disclosure.” “credible fear of enforcement” is sufficient to Robert Mapplethorpe and the allow a court to hear a pre-enforcement (or The suit, Antigone Books v. Horne, was coordinated Classical Tradition: Photo- facial) challenges to a law that could violate by Media Coalition and the ACLU. graphs and Mannerist Prints First Amendment rights. On September 11, a lower court ruled that Ohio’s “false campaign The Arizona law’s putative target is “revenge porn”—that is, the malicious speech” law is unconstitutional. online posting of explicit photos or videos by aggrieved ex-lovers. Such acts are unconscionable violations of privacy that disproportionately target women, FTRF was one of several organizations to and there should be (and are) a number of tools to address this phenomenon join an amicus brief with the Supreme Court vigilantly. However, the Arizona statute goes far beyond addressing that issue, filed in March by Media Coalition that ar- and its vagueness and overbreadth, plaintiffs strongly believe, violate the First gued that a reasonable threat of prosecution Amendment. was sufficient to allow a party to bring a pre- enforcement challenge to a law that violates FTRF’s complaint lists a number of everyday situations in which libraries, the First Amendment. booksellers, journalists, artists, and others could be prosecuted for distribution of non-obscene, constitutionally protected speech that is historic, educational, The Court found that the plaintiffs’ threat artistic, and/or newsworthy in nature. Among the examples: of prosecution was “sufficiently imminent” to allow the case to move forward in federal • A college professor in Arizona, giving a lecture on the Vietnam War, projects district court. In its decision the Court cited on a screen the iconic Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph, “Napalm Girl,” Virginia v. American Booksellers Association, which shows a girl, unclothed, running in horror from her village. a challenge brought by Media Coalition • A newspaper and magazine vendor in Arizona offers to sell a magazine members against a Virginia law requiring which contains images of the abuse of unclothed prisoners at Abu Ghraib. some books and magazines to be segregated or put behind blinders, as an example of a • An educator in Arizona uses images, taken from the Internet, of breast- case in which a “reasonable fear of prosecu- CONTINUED on p. 6 CONTINUED on p. 6 Freedom to Read Foundation News FROM THE IN THE NEWS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, BARBARA M. JONES Censorship in the News Cleveland, TX librarian fights back challenge to “occult” material Back to School This summer, the Austin Memorial Library, a public library in Cleveland, Texas with FTRF (near Houston) encountered a major challenge to several young adult horror- themed books that a local pastor claimed were “occult” in nature. Among Because of you, our members, the books that he wanted removed were Shattered Mirror by Amelia Atwater- more students, faculty, and Rhodes, Glass Houses by Rachel Caine, and The Forbidden Game trilogy by L. J. staff will return to schools that Smith. The pastor also complained about the Twilight series, a stuffed Dobby uphold the freedom to read. the Elf figure from the Harry Potter books, and a display of dried roses in the We had many challenges over teen area. the summer, and many more that have come to us as fall arrives. But we Mary Cohn, director of the library, successfully defended the books at a meet- also have had many significant victories, so we ing of the Cleveland City Council on September 9, having compiled a 123-page must continue working to keep up that mo- dossier in response to Rev. Phillip Missick’s petition. She noted that the city mentum. I am entering this new school year council had adopted the Library Bill of Rights. with renewed optimism for our Foundation. In an ironic twist, the mayor had previously agreed to read a public proclama- Right before the Las Vegas conference, the tion supporting Banned Books Week at the September meeting. However, given filtering white paper was released. This report the challenge controversy, he declined to do so, saying the timing was “unfair.” was produced from information identified by a team of experts (including some FTRF The Fault in Our Stars banned in Riverside, CA middle schools members) at a Google-sponsored conference John Green’s hugely popular novel, The Fault in Our Stars, has been banned from in July 2013. We hope that educators and middle schools in California’s Riverside Unified School District. According to the other decision makers will use this report Press-Enterprise, all three copies of the book were removed from Frank Augustus when and if they are making a decision to Middle School library shelves in September and all other schools were ordered filter or not. This report has received very to refrain from buying the books or accepting them as a donation. The concerns good press response and has been recognized expressed by the parent who challenged the book, and agreed to 6-1 by the book by numerous websites, including the Benton reconsideration committee, included crude language, sexual situations, and is- Foundation: benton.org/node/186048. If sues of death and mortality dealt with in the book. you want ideas on how to present this report in your community, please contact me at The book, which was recently made into a highly successful feature film, ex- [email protected]. plores the life of teenagers with cancer. And then came Vegas and it was great to see Other book challenges so many of you. You will find a rundown of • In Rochseter, Minn., Louise Erdrich’s The Painted Drum was challenged, the meeting on page 5. I was pleased that sev- but retained in September as required reading in high school language arts eral of you are planning major gifts to FTRF. programs. The book, about a Minnesota Native American, was challenged This is so gratifying as a vote of confidence. by a parent for “unsuitable” and “uncomfortable” sexual content. I’d like to let you know about two significant planned gifts that came in this summer: James Setliff, whose wife Margaret was a Freedom to Read Foundation Regular FTRF membership begins at $35.00 longtime FTRF member (as well as the Ha- 50 EAST HURON STREET per year for individuals and $100.00 for CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 60611 organizations. Student membership is $10.00. waii state law librarian and the first president PHONE (312) 280-4226 of the ACLU Hawaii chapter), passed away www.ftrf.org [email protected] Membership dues, newsletter subscriptions, and contributions to FTRF: in 2011 and left over $50,000 in his estate for Barbara M. Jones, Executive Director Freedom to Read Foundation, the Foundation. Julius C. Jefferson, Jr., President 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611. Freedom to Read Foundation News You also can join, subscribe, and contribute at Mary-Ruth Yow Duncan, one of the most (ISSN 0046-5038) is issued quarterly to all (800) 545-2433 x4226 or at www.ftrf.org. generous FTRF members of the Freedom to Read Foundation. FTRF is a 501(c)(3) organization and CONTINUED on p. 7 Organizations also can subscribe to the Freedom contributions are tax deductible. to Read Foundation News for $35.00 per year. www.twitter.com/ftrf 2 www.facebook.com/freedomtoread www.youtube.com/FTRFTube plus.google.com/+FTRForg VOL. 39, NO. 3 V OCTOBER 2014 In the News CONTINUED from p. 2 • The Miseducation of Cameron Post was removed in June from a summer reading list for incoming high school freshmen in Cape Henlopen, Delaware after complaints about profanity. The book is a coming- of-age novel of a teenage lesbian. In the wake of complaints about the removal, the entire reading list, developed by Delaware librarians, was abolished. NEWS & NOTES ARIZONA SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT LOSES RE-ELECTION BID AWARDS & GRANTS John Huppenthal, Arizona’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, lost his bid for re-election as a result of losing the Republican primary in August. Huppenthal is the named plaintiff in the Arizona ethnic studies lawsuit in which FTRF has been involved. Prior to the primary, Huppen- FTRF provides thal was revealed to have posted comments pseudonymously on blog posts in 2010 and 2011 calling those on public assistance “lazy pigs” scholarships to two and decrying the existence of Spanish-language media outlets. While students for GSLIS/ admitting to the comments, he refused calls to resign and continued in Krug Fund course the race. Huppenthal’s primary opponent, Diane Douglas, based her campaign The Freedom to Read Foundation on a promise to repeal the state’s participation in the Common Core provided full course scholarships to two curriculum. Huppenthal blamed his defeat on his support for the Library & Information Science students controversial initiative. to attend “Intellectual Freedom and Prado Mendoza Censorship,” an online course offered Huppenthal was elected to the office in 2010 and soon declared the by the University of Illinois at Urbana- Tucson Unified School District’s Mexican American Studies (MAS) Champaign’s Graduate School of Li- program in violation of Arizona’s H.R.
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