A recent attempt was made to suspend the ability of local school boards in Oklahoma to determine what books are displayed in public school libraries.
It would have shifted that authority to the state Board of Education if successful. However, on Tuesday, the Oklahoma Supreme Court shut down the attempt in a unanimous ruling.
Justice James E. Edmondson, in the unanimous ruling of a lawsuit brought by Edmond Public Schools, claimed that the state Board of Education was trying to “exercise unauthorized quasi-judicial authority in enforcement proceedings before the board.”
The ruling added that the local school board reserves the authority to ensure school library resources meet the local community standards. The lawsuit comes after the board urged the suburban school district to remove two controversial books. They include “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini and “The Glass Castle” by Jeannette Walls.
They requested the removal of the two books from public school libraries because of new rules approved in June 2023. Those rules prohibit the display of books and other media that contain pornographic and sexualized content on library shelves.
The lawsuit was filed days before a hearing facilitated by the district’s appeal of the board’s recommendation was to be held. The district has accepted the decision and shared a statement. It acknowledges the authority of the local school board to create policies that decide how library materials are chosen and reviewed.
State Superintendent Ryan Walters, who led the board recommendation, had some things to say about the topic. He expressed disappointment that the board even had to make such a recommendation in the first place.
Walters wants the Legislature to end the access to pornography in schools, which he says has gone out of control.
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The Supreme Court’s decision came the same day legal representatives for LGBTQ+ youth, teachers, and major publishers demanded that a federal appeals court affirm a lower court order that blocked critical parts of a certain Iowa law. The law also bans books containing sexual content from school libraries and classrooms.
There have been reports of similar rulings, like the one the Supreme Court in Oklahoma made on Tuesday, nationwide. Most stem from Republican legislators who believe these laws are crucial to affirming parents’ rights and protecting children.
The laws typically seek to outlaw discussion of gender and sexual orientation issues, prohibit treatments such as puberty blockers for transgender children, and restrict the use of restrooms in schools. But the liberals have not been taking it all passively. There have been legal challenges in response to them.
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Some who took the battle to court won the lawsuits, and others lost. Earlier this month, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ordered the return of eight books dealing with subjects including racism and transgender issues to library shelves in a rural Texas county.
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