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2023 Banned Books Update: Banned in the USA [1]
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Date: 2023-04-20 06:00:56+00:00
The Chilling Effect of Vague Legislation
Across a number of states during the 2022-2023 school year, new laws give decision-makers incentives to take an overly censorious approach to the content, identities, images, and ideas available in classrooms and libraries. Vague language in the laws regarding how they should be implemented, as well as the inclusion of potential punishments for educators who violate them, have combined to yield a chilling effect.
In Florida, for example, a trio of laws enacted this school year bar instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through third grade (HB 1557), prohibit educators from discussing advantages or disadvantages based on race (HB 7), and mandate that schools must catalog every book on their shelves, including those found in classroom libraries (HB 1467). Due to the lack of clear guidance, these three laws have each led teachers, media specialists, and school administrators to proactively remove books from shelves, in the absence of any specific challenges. In October 2022, the Florida Board of Education also passed new rules that go beyond the language in the laws, to stipulate that teachers found in violation of these bills could have their professional teaching certification revoked.
In Missouri, a law that was originally written to create important new protections for sexual assault survivors (SB 775) was amended before passage to include a provision making it a Class A misdemeanor for librarians or teachers to provide “explicit sexual material” to a student. The measure’s definition of “explicit sexual material” is sweeping, applying to any visual depiction of a range of physical attributes or acts. When the law went into effect in August 2022, public school districts across the state banned 313 books out of fear of criminal punishment. As stated by a school district representative in Missouri following the passage of SB775:
“The unfortunate reality of Senate Bill 775 is that, now in effect, it includes criminal penalties for individual educators. We are not willing to risk those potential consequences and will err on the side of caution on behalf of the individuals who serve our students.”
Per one analysis, more than half of the books pulled in Missouri were about or written by LGBTQ+ people or people of color. One such book banned in multiple districts across Missouri is Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur, who stated:
“It’s so unfortunate and kind of disturbing just to see the way those poems about our experiences — about the abuse that we endure — are now the reason that this book is being banned.”
In February 2023, the Missouri ACLU filed suit against SB 775, representing two Missouri library associations, arguing that the law is unconstitutionally vague, and has led to book bans that violate students’ First Amendment rights.
Utah’s “Sensitive Materials in Schools Act,” (HB 374) similarly went into effect this school year, and “prohibits certain sensitive instructional materials in public schools.” After the law was passed, the state attorney general’s office issued guidance directing school districts “to immediately remove books from school libraries that are categorically defined as pornography under state statute.” In response, Alpine and Washington County school districts in Utah banned dozens of books, including The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika Sánchez, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, Forever… by Judy Blume, and Looking for Alaska by John Green. These works of literature do not remotely fit the well-established legal and colloquial definitions of “pornography.” Further, in Alpine, 18 of the 39 titles (46%) removed feature LGBTQ+ characters; and in Washington, where 42 books were banned, half included sexual experiences (n=21) and over 30% (n=15) prominently feature characters of color or discuss race and racism.
As PEN America has previously explained, the legal test for obscenity requires a holistic evaluation of the material. Over the last year, however, terminology such as “obscene,” “pornographic,” “harmful to minors,” and “sexually explicit” is being utilized to restrict a range of content, including books on LGBTQ+ experiences, stories that include any sexual references, sex education materials, books that include portrayals of death or abuse, and art books. In Missouri and Utah, books are frequently targeted for short excerpts or even single images, without the holistic evaluation necessary to understand their literary merits.
The table below provides some examples of how laws in these three states have been interpreted in practice, resulting in a range of books banned. These three states demonstrate how legislation is deepening an environment of censorship, where fear and intimidation leads to an overly cautious response.
State Description of Policy Implementation of Policy Florida H.B. 1557: The “Parental Rights in Education Act” (a.k.a. the “Don’t Say Gay” law) states that “Classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.” In a motion to dismiss a lawsuit, lawyers representing the State of Florida argued that the HB 1557 does not apply to school libraries, only to classroom instruction. In practice, numerous school districts have interpreted HB 1557 as mandating that they should remove books with any LGBTQ+ content from classroom and school libraries. Some of the books removed following the legislation’s passage include: Call Me Max by Kyle Lukoff
I am Jazz by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings
And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell Utah H.B. 374: “Sensitive Materials in Schools” law prohibits “sensitive materials” in schools, and the state attorney general’s office directed school districts to remove books “that are categorically defined as pornography under state statute.” In practice, schools have removed works of literature for containing any sexual content. Some of the books include: The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika Sánchez
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
Looking for Alaska by John Green
This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson
Forever… by Judy Blume Missouri Provision in S.B. 775 makes the distribution to students of material deemed “harmful to minors” by any school official (educators, librarians, student teachers, coaches) or by any visitor to a school, a misdemeanor punishable by fines or jail time. In practice, although the law contains exceptions for “materials of artistic or anthropological significance,” numerous schools removed graphic novels when the law took effect, including: American Gods, Vol. 1: Shadows & Vol. 2: My Ainsel by Neil Gaiman
The Complete Maus: A Survivor’s Tale by Art Spiegelman
Be Gay, Do Comics: Queer History, Memoir, and Satire by The Nib
Flamer by Mike Curato
Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur
The Good Earth (Graphic Adaptation) by Pearl S. Buck
Though their impact has yet to be documented in as much detail, several additional state laws passed in 2022 are having an impact on the availability of books in schools, and likely contributing to a chilling effect.
In Tennessee, the passage in 2022 of the “Age-Appropriate Materials Act” (SB 2407) led to an August memorandum that mandated cataloging of books in classroom and school libraries. A series of “wholesale bans” were reported by teachers on social media or in school board meetings in response, as they decided to remove classroom library collections rather than put themselves at risk of punishment. As discussed below, “wholesale bans” are difficult to quantify, and thus are not captured in PEN America’s Index of School Book Bans.
Laws passed last year in Georgia and Tennessee mandate new processes for evaluating book challenges, which may well spur bans, too. Georgia’s law (SB 226) gives school principals the power to resolve book ban challenges on their own, but affords them only ten days in which to read a book and make an informed decision. Tennessee’s law mandates the creation of a new politically-appointed committee to settle appeals from school districts concerning objections to materials, effectively giving a small group of individuals the power to ban books permanently from every public school statewide.
In Virginia, a state law now in effect (SB656) requires the Department of Education to develop model policies to ensure parents are notified if students are being taught “sexually explicit” instructional materials in the classroom. In one district, Board members expanded upon the state’s “model policy” to include notifications for materials in school libraries, in addition to classrooms, making the removal of books from libraries a more likely outcome. In Arizona, a 2022 law (HB 2495) now requires parental approval to teach books or other material that make any references to sex. This law is likely to have a chilling effect on educators, who may avoid any materials likely to spark controversy or complaint.
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[1] Url:
https://pen.org/report/banned-in-the-usa-state-laws-supercharge-book-suppression-in-schools/
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