A federal judge in Pensacola, U.S. District Judge T. Kent Wetherell II, has ruled that a lawsuit against a Florida Panhandle school district regarding the removal of books on race and LGBTQ+ identities from library shelves can proceed. The judge granted standing to the writers’ group PEN America, publisher Penguin Random House, banned authors, and parents to pursue their claims under the First Amendment’s free speech protections. However, he denied a claim under the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.
Attorney Lynn Oberlander expressed satisfaction with the judge’s recognition that books should not be removed from school library shelves based solely on their views. The federal lawsuit accuses the Escambia County School District and its School Board of violating the First Amendment through the removal of 10 books.
PEN America, an organization tracking school book bans, advocates for literary freedoms and has a membership of 7,500 writing professionals, including authors whose books faced removal or restrictions in the school district. Penguin Random House, a major publisher, has published books that were subject to removal or restrictions by the district.
The lawsuit alleges that the removals originated from objections by one language arts teacher in the county. In each case, the school board voted to remove the books despite recommendations from a district review committee that deemed them educationally suitable. The teacher’s objections appear to draw on materials compiled by a website that labels books ideologically unsuitable for children.
Examples of removed books include “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky, “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison, “The Nowhere Girls” by Amy Reed, and “Lucky” by Alice Sebold. The lawsuit mentions that over 150 additional books are under review by the school board.
The Escambia County School District’s attorneys have not yet responded to requests for comment. The lawsuit does not name Gov. Ron DeSantis as a defendant, although he has supported policies allowing censorship and challenges to books based on their appropriateness for children in schools. DeSantis, currently running for president, has emphasized cultural divides on race, sexual orientation, and gender to attract conservative voters in the Republican primary elections. However, he and others lag significantly behind former President Donald Trump.
