Major publishers sue Florida over ‘unconstitutional’ book ban law
Tampa Bay Times | By Ian Hodgson | August 29, 2024
A coalition of publishers, authors and parents say Florida’s public school book review process limits free expression.
A coalition of the nation’s largest book publishers filed a lawsuit Thursday against Florida education officials alleging that a 2023 Florida law that increased scrutiny of school library books unconstitutionally limits free speech.
The lawsuit, which was filed by Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group, Harper Collins and three other publishers in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida in Orlando, also named school board members in Orange and Volusia County school districts.
Florida Department of Education spokesperson Sydney Booker described the lawsuit as a “stunt,” in an email to the Tampa Bay Times.
“There are no books banned in Florida,” Booker wrote. “Sexually explicit material and instruction are not suitable for schools.
Orange County Public Schools had not been served with the complaint by 2 p.m. Thursday and had no comment, district spokesperson Michael Ollendorff said. The district pulled 673 books from teachers’ classroom shelves, the Orlando Sentinel reported in December 2023.
The complaint alleges that hundreds of titles have been banned from Florida school districts since the law went into effect last year. Those titles include “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley, “A Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens and “The Diary of a Young Girl” by Anne Frank.
The law, HB 1069, requires school librarians to remove books that contain “sexual conduct,” with no consideration of the work’s educational or artistic merit, according to the complaint. Once a parent or resident of the county objects to the book, it must be removed within five days and remain unavailable until the objection is resolved.
The lawsuit seeks to restore educator’s ability to “evaluate books holistically to avoid harm to students who will otherwise lose access to a wide range of viewpoints,” according to an statement.
“Florida HB 1069′s complex and overbroad provisions have created chaos and turmoil across the state, resulting in thousands of historic and modern classics — works we are proud to publish — being unlawfully labeled obscene and removed from shelves,” Penguin Random House associate general counsel Dan Novack wrote.
“As publishers dedicated to protecting freedom of expression and the right to read, the rise in book bans across the country continues to demand our collective action,” according to the emailed statement. “Fighting unconstitutional legislation in Florida and across the country is an urgent priority.”
Penguin Random House also joined a November 2023 lawsuit filed by PEN America, a free-speech advocacy organization, against Escambia County School Board over that district’s implementation of the rule. The law was also challenged by three parents in St. Johns and Orange counties in lawsuit filed in June.
