ORLANDO, Fla. — Schools cannot remove books simply for containing descriptions of sexual conduct.
That’s according to a new ruling issued by a federal judge this week, and it could have major impacts on books already pulled from school shelves.
In his 50-page ruling, the judge argued the state law on book removals is overbroad and violates the First Amendment.
“It is unclear what the statute actually prohibits. It might forbid material that states characters “spent the night together” or “made love”,” the judge wrote.
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Stephana Ferrell with the Florida Freedom to Read Project explained the ruling blocks the state and school districts from censoring a book without considering the work in its totality.
“This is a huge win for Floridians, right? Our students have First Amendment rights,” said Ferrell. “So, now we expect books to go back. We expect a process to be followed where books are considered in their entirety.”
When Action News Jax asked Governor Ron DeSantis what school districts should do in light of the ruling, he deferred to the Florida Department of Education.
But he vowed to appeal the ruling.
“There is no basis to say that the public can’t enact laws to keep pornographic material out of these schools. I mean, the reality is, this is an agenda that they’re trying to jam into our schools,” said DeSantis.
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But when Action News Jax asked the Florida DOE what it’s advising school districts to do, the statement we received did not address our question.
“We remain unwavering in our commitment to defending parental rights and protecting children from exposure to inappropriate content,” an FDOE spokesperson said in the statement. “This is a fight we are determined to win, no matter how hard the activists work to try to stop us.”
And school districts aren’t hearing anything different.
Both St. Johns and Clay told Action News Jax they haven’t received guidance from the state.
Ferrell argued, at the very least, the list of 23 books named in the ruling should be restored, as the judge specifically wrote they’d been unconstitutionally removed.
Among them are The Handmaid’s Tale and Water for Elephants, both of which have been removed in several local school districts.
“And a number of the books that were named by the judge in this order were of the 55 that the state declared pornographic back in June and were basically banned statewide,” said Ferrell.
The case will now head to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, where the state will likely ask for this week’s ruling to be blocked pending a full appeal.
The Governor indicated confidence the state will win in the end.
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