A federal judge has defied the will of concerned Colorado parents by mandating that the Elizabeth School District return 19 controversial books to its library shelves. These include titles that promote graphic sexual content and extreme ideologies. This ruling, by Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney, a Biden appointee, overturns the district’s cautious decision to remove these books.
The judge’s preliminary injunction requires these books, such as The Bluest Eye, The Hate U Give, and George (now Melissa), to return to school libraries, ignoring significant parental concerns about their inappropriate and politically biased content.
The Elizabeth School Board had initially voted to remove certain books due to their explicit nature, including graphic violence, racism, and inappropriate depictions of mental health issues and sexuality, according to CBS News.
Here’s the full list of books that were removed, as reported by 9News:
- The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
- Beloved by Toni Morrison
- The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
- The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
- You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson
- #Pride: Championing LGBTQ Rights by Rebecca Felix
- George (now Melissa) by Alex Gino
- It’s Your World—If You Don’t Like It, Change It by Mikki Halpin
- The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
- Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
- Looking for Alaska by John Green
- Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
- Crank by Ellen Hopkins
- Glass by Ellen Hopkins
- Fallout by Ellen Hopkins
- Identical by Ellen Hopkins
- Burned by Ellen Hopkins
- Smoke by Ellen Hopkins
- Redwood and Ponytail by K.A. Holt
The court case was driven by a coalition of activist students, their parents, the NAACP, and the Authors Guild, who opposed the school board’s decision, labeling it as “censorship.”
Judge Sweeney, in her 45-page ruling, stated that the board’s actions infringed upon the First Amendment rights of both students and authors. She argued that the books were removed for their content and viewpoint, particularly those touching on race, sexual orientation, and gender identity, rather than educational concerns.
“Plaintiffs have shown that the District removed the 19 books based on the authors’ and books’ content and viewpoints on issues such as race, sexual orientation, gender identity, LGBTQ content, and to promote the Board’s self-proclaimed ‘conservative values,’” Sweeney documented.
She further dismissed the board’s argument that it was acting to protect students from inappropriate material, stating, “Other than pretextual declarations, at this stage, there simply is no reason to believe that the books were removed because of vulgarity, age-inappropriateness, or for legitimate pedagogical concerns.”
Sweeney concluded that even if the majority of parents, based on their conservative beliefs, wish to remove certain books, the First Amendment offers “sweeping protection” for those authors and readers who hold minority views, insisting that the minority perspective often necessitates protection.
