Florida Board of Education and Commissioner Sued by Parents Over Book Ban Policy – NBC 6 South Florida

Three parents have taken legal action against a controversial 2023 Florida law that increased scrutiny of school-library books and instructional materials. The lawsuit, filed in federal court on Thursday, alleges that the process for removing books discriminates against parents who disagree with the state’s favored viewpoint.

The law, known as SB 1069, made it easier for parents to object to books and instructional materials in schools. However, the plaintiffs argue that Florida lacks a procedure for parents to object to book removals, which they claim is an infringement of their First Amendment rights.

The lawsuit, brought by two parents from St. Johns County and one from Orange County, asserts that the law violates the First Amendment by providing or denying access to the book-review process based on a parent’s viewpoint. The plaintiffs are being represented by Democracy Forward, the ACLU of Florida, and the Southern Poverty Law Center.

One of the parents involved in the lawsuit, Stephana Ferrell, tried to appeal a decision by Orange County school officials to remove the book “Shut Up!” district-wide but was told she lacked standing to challenge the decision. Similarly, Anne Watts Tressler disagreed with St. Johns County school officials’ decisions to restrict access to several books, including “Slaughterhouse Five” and “A Stolen Life.”

The 2023 law, an expansion of the 2022 “Parental Rights in Education” act, requires the Department of Education to create forms for objecting to books and sets up a process for reviewing objections to material deemed sexually explicit or violent. The lawsuit names members of the State Board of Education and Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. as defendants.

This legal challenge comes on the heels of a separate lawsuit filed last year, which involved the removal or restriction of school library books by the Escambia County School Board. The ongoing battle over book censorship in schools continues to spark debate and legal action in Florida.