Controversial literary works have been challenged, banned, and censored from school libraries over the past fifty years. Even recently with the controversy over the Harry Potter series school districts have attempted to censor books in response to challenges made by the public. While some courts have ruled in favor of censorship over the years the most recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling favors the First Amendment rights of students. At least according to present federal law the ever-growing list of banned books is safe.
Why and How Are Books Banned from Libraries?
Why are books banned from libraries? Who makes the decision that a literary work is acceptable or not? In most cases it is the parents of students who voice concern over the ideas held in books. Parents or other members of the public may file complaints, issue challenges to controversial books, or request that works be removed from the shelves. From race issues in Of Mice and Men to the alleged promotion of witchcraft in the Harry Potter series, the list of challenged and banned books will always exist as long as the public voices concern over the access that students have to controversial ideas and issues.
How do school districts censor these books? They simply remove them from the shelves. An interested young mind could still find the book elsewhere, perhaps borrowing it from a friend or purchasing it at the bookstore, or even finding it online. Free public access at the library would however be denied.
Court Decisions in Favor of Book Censorship
Over the years when the issue of a censored book went to the courts the majority of cases ruled in favor of First Amendment rights, according to the Center for Individual Freedom. There have been however, pro-censorship cases.
In 1972 the Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the removal of the banned book, Down These Mean Streets. The court argued that shelving or not shelving a book is not a constitutional issue and that there was no transgression of First Amendment rights. In 1980 the Second Circuit Court ruled in support of the censorship of The Wanderer and Dog Day Afternoon.
Controversial Books and Ideas Are Protected
In the 1982 Supreme Court case, Board of Education vs. Pico, which dealt with the censorship of several books including Slaughterhouse Five, Black Boy, and Go Ask Alice, it was declared that "local school boards may not remove books from school library shelves simply because they dislike the ideas contained in those books."
While this is a definitive ruling in favor of First Amendment rights for students it is not an eternal edict. As has been shown in the past, the courts are not completely predictable. Could the federal courts again make pro-censorship decisions concerning banned books in school libraries? While support for book censorship does not seem likely right now it is not in the realm of the impossible, especially if society as a whole sways in favor of or fails to stop other forms of censorship.
Brenna Coleman - Brenna is a freelance writer focusing on natural health and beauty. She has written hundreds of articles, helping readers find ways to ...
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