ACLU of Utah Statement on Book Banning and the First Amendment
November 22, 2021 7:00 pm
The ACLU of Utah supports the First Amendment by opposing attempts to ban books from Utah’s public schools. Furthermore, we have a track record of successfully challenging unlawful attempts to censor content in school libraries.
In November 2012, the ACLU of Utah sued the Davis School District after administrators removed In Our Mothers’ House, a children’s book about a family with same-sex parents, from an elementary school library. Three months later, Davis School District settled the case with instructions to librarians to return In Our Mothers’ House to the library shelves. Additionally, the district agreed to never remove a book from circulation based solely on its LGBTQ content.
Recently, officials at Canyons School District appear to have disregarded their standard process for reviewing content and instead removed nine books from library shelves without following established guidelines for reviewing content. As a reminder, constitutional protections cannot be simply ignored.
As we investigate complaints related to the Canyons School District, the ACLU of Utah remains committed to ensuring the First Amendment rights of Utahns are respected.
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