A lawsuit filed last Friday in federal court charges the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District violating the constitutional rights of six students rights when they removed books from school libraries last spring.
The district took away the books in April under the instructions from the Mat-Su School Board that had received complaints. Then, in the fall of this year the board created the Library Citizens Advisory Committee to examine all the items. The committee has analyzed 12 books to date and eight of them they have recommended that be stored in high school libraries but taken out of elementary and middle schools.
In the case filed on Friday represent themselves through the ACLU of Alaska and the Northern Justice Project.
Scott Adams and his wife Dawn joined the lawsuit on behalf of their daughter who is in middle school.
It’s natural for parents to may feel some books are inappropriate to their children, Adams said.
“But it’s their right,” he said. “You know when your child brings home a book and you’re not convinced that it’s appropriate, then return it to your library. Don’t leave that decision to me. Let me take that decision.”
In a formal statement that announced the lawsuit, lawyers representing the plaintiffs noted that a lot of the characters in the books that are being challenged are of color as well as LGBTQ+ characters.
The freedom to experiment with different concepts in books that are freely available is a fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution according to Savannah Fletcher, a lawyer for the Northern Justice Project.
“And it’s a threatening precedent that we’ve set when one person who complains about a book is given the power to block access to it for each family and every schoolchild,” Fletcher said. “That’s the main reason behind this lawsuit. It’s to defend our rights under the Constitution.”
The Mat-Su School District’s spokesperson Jillian Morrissey said Monday the district has not yet been informed of the litigation. She refused to comment.
Fletcher told the court that the plaintiffs would request an interim injunction to have the books put back on shelves as soon as they can.
Districts have until end of 2024 to prepare.
