The ACLU argued in a federal court that banning a controversial book on Cuba is a clear case of political censorship.
CBS4/MIAMI HERALD) MIAMI No decision was made Friday following a court hearing on an effort by the Miami-Dade County school board to ban a controversial book on Cuba from school libraries. Evan Bacon reports with an excellent overview of the hearing on CBS. See the video.
The Miami Herald reports:
Judge hears case on banning Cuba book
The ACLU argued in a federal court that banning a controversial book on Cuba is a clear case of political censorship.
As attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union argued in federal court Friday [July 21,2006) that the banning of the controversial children's book Vamos a Cuba was a classic case of political censorship, the ban's defenders said it painted life in Cuba as if it were Coral Gables rather than a communist dictatorship.
''It was only when the politicians got involved that the books were removed,'' said JoNel Newman, a University of Miami attorney leading the ACLU's case, before U.S. District Judge Alan S. Gold.
During an evidentiary hearing, her side tried to establish that two review committees and the superintendent had carefully weighed the issues of age appropriateness and accuracy before deciding to keep the books on the shelves of Miami-Dade public school libraries, but the School Board overrode its own procedural rules to ban them....
During Friday's hearing, a small group of librarians sometimes scoffed at the board's lawyers, at one point provoking a shushing from a security officer. In library science circles, they said, the solution to omitted information is to add more books to a collection, not to remove them.
''Not every book can be everything to everyone,'' said Pat Scales, a library science expert and member of the American Library Association, which entered the case in favor of the ACLU. Her testimony: ``Adults are trying to bring their own political views to the minds of children.''
More here
The Miami Herald reports:
Judge hears case on banning Cuba book
The ACLU argued in a federal court that banning a controversial book on Cuba is a clear case of political censorship.
As attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union argued in federal court Friday [July 21,2006) that the banning of the controversial children's book Vamos a Cuba was a classic case of political censorship, the ban's defenders said it painted life in Cuba as if it were Coral Gables rather than a communist dictatorship.
''It was only when the politicians got involved that the books were removed,'' said JoNel Newman, a University of Miami attorney leading the ACLU's case, before U.S. District Judge Alan S. Gold.
During an evidentiary hearing, her side tried to establish that two review committees and the superintendent had carefully weighed the issues of age appropriateness and accuracy before deciding to keep the books on the shelves of Miami-Dade public school libraries, but the School Board overrode its own procedural rules to ban them....
During Friday's hearing, a small group of librarians sometimes scoffed at the board's lawyers, at one point provoking a shushing from a security officer. In library science circles, they said, the solution to omitted information is to add more books to a collection, not to remove them.
''Not every book can be everything to everyone,'' said Pat Scales, a library science expert and member of the American Library Association, which entered the case in favor of the ACLU. Her testimony: ``Adults are trying to bring their own political views to the minds of children.''
More here
posted by Librarian at 5:53 AM
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