Penguin Random House and Florida parents sue school district over book bans
NBCDec 25, 2022
Publisher Sues Florida School District Over Book Bans
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Image copyright: Getty Images [via Politico]
The Facts
Publisher Penguin Random House and PEN, a literary advocacy group, are suing the County School District of Escambia, Florida over its removal of 10 books related to race and gender issues from libraries. Five authors who’ve had their works removed and two parents of children in the district are also serving as plaintiffs.
The Pensacola district has been accused of violating the First Amendment by "depriving students of access to a wide range of viewpoints," as well as the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection clause by allegedly "disproportionately" targeting "books by non-white and/or LGBTQ authors."
The Spin
Democratic narrative
We can only hope this lawsuit succeeds in ensuring important books are returned to library shelves — a blow needs to be dealt against DeSantis’ war on freedom of thought, which he is branding a fight against wokeness. This GOP culture war is crippling education systems nationwide and preventing kids from engaging with difficult issues and, therefore, developing curiosity or critical thought.
Republican narrative
DeSantis is one of the few leaders brave enough to take a stand against left-wing indoctrination in American schools. Education needs to be focused on learning and instilling American values, not on sexuality and pronouns. This lawsuit is nothing but an attempt to virtue signal against a popular GOP governor.
