The newest of the book-censorship lawsuits in the United States says Florida’s sexual-content House Bill 1069 ‘must be stopped.’

By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson

Plaintiffs: ‘Classics Unlawfully Labeled Obscene’

Our international Publishing Perspectives readership has been following the broadening scenario of legal action against censorship efforts in the United States market for some time now. In fact, you may recall our November 30 story on Penguin Random House suing Iowa, one of the 50 states, for its law against sexual content in books. On April 15, we followed with the news that five major publishing companies had joined PRH in that suit.

Today (August 29), the same Big-Five-Plus-Sourcebooks group of six publishing powers—accompanied by the Authors Guild, five prominent authors, two students and two parents—have filed a lawsuit against Florida public officials, challenging sweeping book removal provisions in House Bill (HB) 1069, an education law that restricts books in school libraries.

The plaintiffs are:

• Penguin Random House
• Hachette Book Group
• HarperCollins Publishers
• Macmillan Publishers
• Simon & Schuster
• Sourcebooks
• Authors Guild
• Author Julia Alvarez
• Laurie Halse Anderson
• John Green
• Jodi Picoult
• Angie Thomas
• Two students
• Two parents

Book Removals Include ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’

In the media messaging with which the publishers are announcing this new court action, the plaintiffs’ group writes:

“As a result of HB 1069, hundreds of titles have been banned across the state since the bill went into effect in July 2023.

“The right to speak and the right to read are inextricably intertwined. … If the State of Florida dislikes an author’s idea, it can offer a competing message. It cannot suppress the disfavored message.”From the publishers' and authors' court filing

“The list of banned books includes classics such as Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway, and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, as well as contemporary novels by bestselling authors such as Margaret Atwood, Judy Blume, and Stephen King.

“Among nonfiction titles, accounts of the Holocaust such as The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank have been removed.

“HB 1069 requires school librarians to remove books that contain anything that can be construed as ‘sexual conduct,’ with no consideration of the educational value of the work as a whole. If ‘a parent or a resident of the county’ objects to a book, the book must be removed within five days and remain unavailable until the objection is resolved. There is no requirement to review a book within a reasonable time frame—or even to return it if it has been found not to violate the statute. If a book is returned to the library, an objector may request a review by a state-appointed special magistrate at the expense of the school district.”

Even in actions reported in Florida in June by Jeffrey S. Solocheck at the Tampa Bay Times, parents were accusing Florida’s “special magistrate” mechanism for HB 1069 of “tipping the scales in favor of censorship.”

Publishers: ‘Fighting Unconstitutional Legislation’

The six publishing houses have issued a statement, reading:

“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. Fighting unconstitutional legislation in Florida and across the country is an urgent priority.

“We are unwavering in our support for educators, librarians, students, authors, readers—everyone deserves access to books and stories that show different perspectives and viewpoints.”

• Speaking for Penguin Random House, the largest publishing house in the States and in the world, Dan Novack, PRH vice-president and associate general counsel, PRH, today says, “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. “Students need access to books that reflect a wide range of human experiences to learn and grow. It’s imperative for the education of our young people that teachers and librarians be allowed to use their professional expertise to match our authors’ books to the right reader at the right time in their life.”
• The authors in the plaintiff group say, “There is no greater gift than hearing that your words have deeply impacted someone’s life. We share our stories in hopes that they will resonate with readers, help them feel understood, and introduce them to new perspectives. Laws like HB 1069 in Florida deprive students of this opportunity and must be stopped.”
• 

  Mary Rasenberger

  Speaking for the Authors Guild, its CEO, Mary Rasenberger, says, “Book bans censor authors’ voices, negating and silencing their lived experience and stories. These bans have a chilling effect on what authors write about, and they damage authors’ reputations by creating the false notion that there is something unseemly about their books. Yet, these same books have edified young people for decades, expanding worlds and fostering self-esteem and empathy for others. We all lose out when authors’ truths are censored.”

The plaintiffs’ press communications assert, “HB 1069’s book removal provisions violate the Supreme Court test, articulated in Miller v. California, 413 US 15 (1973), evaluating media content for obscenity by reviewing works as a whole for their literary, artistic, political, and scientific value, and extended to minors in Erznoznik v. City of Jacksonville, 422 US 205 (1975). The lawsuit focuses on restoring the discretion of trained educators to evaluate books holistically to avoid harm to students who will otherwise lose access to a wide range of viewpoints.”

The suit has been filed today in the US District Court for the Middle District of Florida, seated in Orlando, names as defendants the chair and vice-chair of Florida’s State Board of Education, Ben Gibson and Ryan Petty, respectively; members of the board of education Esther Byrd, Grazie P. Christie, Kelly Garcia, and Marylynn Magar; the chair of the Orange County School Board, Teresa Jacobs; members of the Orange County school board Amgoe Gallo, Maria Salamanca, Alicia Farrant, Pam Gould, Vicki-Elaine Felder, Karen Castor Dentel, and Melissa Byrd; Volusia County School Board chair and vice-chair, Jamie Haynes and Anita Burnette, respectively; and members of the Volusia board Ruben Colón, Carl Persis, and Jessie Thompson.

The plaintiffs are represented in the lawsuit by Fred Sperling, Adam Diederich, Kirstie Brenson, Meera Gorjala, and Devin Ross of Arent Fox Schiff LLP and David Karp of Carlton Fields.

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More from Publishing Perspectives on book bannings is here, more on censorship in the broader context is here, more on the freedom to publish and freedom of expression is here, and more on the United States publishing market is here.