A judge has temporarily barred Miami schools from banning a children's book about Cuba from libraries.At first glance this is a muddled ruling. Obviously there are books which are protected by the First Amendment which are nevertheless inappropriate for school libraries. What if the school board had acted to remove copies of "My Awakening" by David Duke? Freedom of speech and of the press relates to the ability to publish and circulate books in the world at large. Children don't have the full rights of adults and school boards are supposed to make decisions governing school systems.
US District Judge Alan S Gold ruled in favour of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida (ACLU), which wanted to keep the book, A Visit to Cuba.
Last month, the Miami-Dade school board voted to remove the book from libraries after a parent complained it was too positive about life under Fidel Castro.
The ruling may keep the book on shelves until the case goes to trial.
The school board had removed all 24 books in the series, dealing with children living around the world.
The Miami-Dade Student Government Association and the ACLU said removing the book was violated students' constitutional right of access to information under the First Amendment.
"By totally banning the Cuba books and the rest of the series, the school board is in fact prohibiting even the voluntary consideration of the themes contained in the books by students at their leisure," said Judge Gold.
"This goes to the heart of the First Amendment issue," he said.
Judge Gold gave the school until the end of the day to put the books it had removed from the shelves back in the library.
Juan Amador Rodriguez, the parent who had complained about the book, said he was surprised and disappointed at the judge's decision.
"The book has errors. It has errors of omission, omission about the reality of the country," Mr Amador said.
Of course, in my mind pro-Castro propaganda and the writings of David Duke are similarly beyond the pale. In some people's minds, evidently in Judge Gold's, a ban on a pro-Castro children's book is analogous to a ban on the New York Times. To even characterize the school board's action as a "ban," as the BBC story does, is to confer implied respectability on pro-Castro literature.
That's what it comes down to, and somehow this should not pit a school board against a judge. Let parents, teachers, and voters--by means of school boards--decide what is and isn't appropriate.
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