Date: Tue, 12 Jul 1994 12:10:05 -0400 From: PMDAtropos The following is copied with permission from the newsletter of the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas and Western Missouri, called, confusingly for this context, *The Advocate.* It appeared in the issue for Summer, 1994: "Patrons of the Olathe, Kansas, school district near Kansas City -- including students, parents, and teachers -- are directly confronting the efforts of the religious right to, "change society," in court today with the help of the ACLU of Kansas and Western Missouri. "The lawsuit, *Stevana Case et al. v. U.S.D. no. 233, Johnson County, Kansas et al.,* stems from the December 14, 1993, order of Olathe superintendent, Dr. Ron Wimmer, that copies of the book, *Annie on My Mind,* be removed from the shelves of Olathe East and Olathe South High School libraries, even though they had been available in the libraries since the early 1980s. Although the books had been part of each library's general collection, and therefore available for voluntary reading or checkout, they were not part of the curriculum or assigned reading for any course taught in the district. "An award-winning juvenile romance novel by Nancy Garden, *Annie on My Mind* tells the story of two young women, Lisa and Annie, who 'meet at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, fall in love, then find that a public declaration is too threatening to their friends and relatives,' ALA [American Library Association] Best Books for Young Adults, *Booklist,* March 15, 1983. The librarian who originally selected *Annie* for purchase did so because the book had received significant professional critical acclaim. The book is available in other public school districts in Kansas and western Missouri for the same reason. "Four students, with the support of their parents, and a teacher from the Olathe School District are the plaintiffs for ACLU. In the face of virulent opposition by the religious right, the students spoke eloquently and forcefully at the January 7, 1994 school board meeting just prior to the board's final action supporting censorship. "Stevie Case, Olathe East High School student body president and lead plaintiff, commented in March at an ACLU news conference, 'This is an inappropriate attempt to ease controversy through the suppression of information. Political expedience does not excuse the abridgement of the most basic rights of citizens as affirmed by our constitution. If our schools and our society are to be successful, academic freedom and access to information must be maintained without exception." "Plaintiff Amanda Greb added, 'Because I believed the actions of the superintendent were wrong, and thinking the decision to be a temporary mistake, I spoke before the school board two months ago urging them to return the book. They did not do so. I met twice with the superintendent. Nothing happened. I helped distribute a petition that receive[d] the signatures of over half of our student body. The Olathe South Student Government passed a resolution. The book was never returned. This lawsuit is not a first resort, but the last resort of students who are willing to pay the price of eternal vigilance in order to secure their freedoms.' "The third plaintiff present at the March news conference, Sam Pierron, emphasized that, 'this is not a political issue that can be labelled *liberal* or *conservative.* This is about our basic freedoms as Americans.' "The issues raised by the ACLU in the lawsuit are the removal of the book *Annie on My Mind* from the current collections of two Olathe public school libraries, the academic freedom claim of a teacher in the district, and the claim of a student, who was prevented by the school district from distributing pamphlets in school concerning the censorship of the book. "The school district maintains that it has authority to prescribe what students may or may not read. However, the United States Supreme Court has ruled that school officials are not above the Constitution and particularly the First Amendment. "In its landmark 1982 decision called *Board of Education v. Pico,* the United States Supreme Court said that local school boards must exercise their authority in a manner that is consistent with the First Amendment. "In the *Pico* case, the Supreme Court found that students' First Amendment rights are 'directly and sharply implicated by the removal of books from the shelves of school libraries.' The Court said that 'the special characteristics of the school library make that environment especially appropriate for the recognition of the First Amendment rights of students.' "According to the Supreme Court, school officials cannot remove books from school libraries in order to deny students access to ideas ... local school boards may not remove books from school library shelves simply because they dislike the ideas contained in those books,' the Court said. "ACLU contends that by removing *Annie on My Mind* from school libraries, the Olathe School District is violating the First Amendment rights of students and teachers in the district. "The cooperating attorneys for ACLU are J. Eugene Balloun, John T. Bullock, and David J. Waxse of the lawfirm Shook Hardy and Bacon, and Marjorie Heins, director of the national ACLU Arts Censorship Project. The cooperating attorneys are not paid for their time, which will be substantial. ACLU is responsible for all other costs in the case, expected to be in the range of $10,000." The article does not mention the fact that the radical rightists who demanded that the book be removed actually held a book burning. When Nancy Garden read from her works at our local bookstore earlier this year she described how horrified and sickened she was to read that her book had been burned. The ACLU office says that they have learned that the school board and its backers tend to fight the suit tooth and nail. I have the impression that they now think that their costs will be considerably more than the estimate. They will have to take some forty depositions, which I gather means substantial costs for stenography. They very much need support. Tax deductible checks can be made out to the ACLU Foundation and mailed to ACLU of Kansas and Western Missouri, 706 W. 42nd Street, Suite 108, Kansas City, MO 64111. Please mention that it is for the Olathe case. Redistribution of this message is permitted. Lorraine Moore