Judge orders Colorado's Elizabeth School District to place 19 banned books back on its library shelves by this weekend
A federal judge has refused a request from a school district in Colorado to put a hold on her ruling that mandates the restoration of 19 different books to its school library shelves. The Elizabeth School Board voted to remove the books from school libraries last year due to concerns over violence, discrimination, sexual situations and other content.
The superintendent says parents overwhelmingly approved of the district's decision to remove the books from the shelves -- saying they were inappropriate for kids.
Two parents, the Author's Guild and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against the ban in December. Last month, a federal district judge ruled that the books need to go back on the shelves. The "students' interest in accessing books in their respective school libraries is constitutionally protected" by the First Amendment, Judge Charlotte Sweeney wrote in her decision.
The school district asked for a hold on the ruling but that was just denied. The court says Elizabeth schools now must return the books to school libraries by Saturday at 5 p.m. The district had said it may take some time to get the books on the shelves again as they threw them out, but a law firm said it would donate the books.
The books in question are as follows:
"The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini
"Redwood and Ponytail" by K.A. Holt
"Crank" by Ellen Hopkins
"Glass" by Ellen Hopkins
"Fallout" by Ellen Hopkins
"Identical" by Ellen Hopkins
"Burned" by Ellen Hopkins
"Smoke" by Ellen Hopkins
"The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas
"Looking for Alaska" by John Green
"You Should See Me in a Crown" by Leah Johnson
"#Pride: Championing LGBTQ Rights" by Rebecca Felix
"George" (now published and referred to as "Melissa") by Alex Gino
"It's Your World--If You Don't Like it, Change it" by Mikki Halpin
"Beloved" by Toni Morrison
"The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison
"The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky
"Thirteen Reasons Why" by Jay Asher
"Nineteen Minutes" by Jodi Picoult
Read the court decision below.
