Oral arguments heard for injunction to stop removal of challenged books from MSBSD school libraries

On Monday afternoon, U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason heard oral arguments for the preliminary injunction request in Adams et al. v. Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District.

The request for a preliminary injunction was filed following the April 2023 removal of 56 book titles from all its school libraries after person or persons made complaints that the books contained offensive or obscene language and ideas it sought to suppress. The MSBSD removed classics and award winners, including Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye,” Kurt Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse Five,” and Khaled Hosseini’s “The Kite Runner.” Other books that were removed also include books with protagonists of color or LGBTQ+ protagonists and non-fiction reference materials discussing adolescent health and development.

Back in November 2023, the Northern Justice Project, LLC, (NJP) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Alaska filed a lawsuit against the MSBSD for the removal of the 56 books. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of eight plaintiffs because they said that the book removal violated their First and Fourteenth Amendment rights under the United States Constitution to free speech, press, and political expression.

In January of this year, the NJP and the ACLU of Alaska filed a motion for a preliminary injunction that, if granted, would return the 56 book titles to the shelves in school district libraries where they were previously removed and pause the removal of any other books pending a further order from the court.

Prior to Monday’s oral arguments, Scott Adams, Plaintiff, said that the MSBSD’s removal of the books is in violation of the First Amendment.

"This is a First Amendment issue. Full stop. It does not matter if you like the books, agree with them, or find them objectionable. They are protected free speech. These books need to go back on school shelves so that we can focus on issues that are actually impacting our kids, students and schools."

“We are asking that the books be returned to the libraries while the review process continues,” argued attorney for the plaintiff Savannah Fletcher, who argued that removing the books from school libraries and preventing students from accessing them could do irreparable harm to their learning.

John Ptacin, attorney for the MSBSD said that the plaintiff is asking the courts to decide on something no other court has decided, that the court could be taking away the rights of the local school board and community citizens to determine what is appropriate to be housed in school libraries.

“Does the law really say experts are necessary to decide the fate of a book? Is it the role of school boards and the local people to decide for themselves whether a book is culturally accurate, or whether it is obscene? That’s what the law says,” Ptacin argued.

He also that the court is being asked to do something that has never been done, which is to shut down the review process.

“There is no precedent to stop a review in its tracks.” He said that the Library Citizens’ Advisory Committee (LCAC), which is currently reading and reviewing the 56 challenged books is working and that process is being made. He pointed to the LCAC’s decision to return most of the books they have read to date, with only 3 books have been removed from school library shelves to date.

Fletcher argued during rebuttal that the LCAC had not been created when the books were removed during the last school year and said that they do want to control the review process, simply to ask that the books be returned to the school libraries prior to review.

“For an entire school year, which is ending in five weeks, a majority of these books have not been available,” she said, stating that students have been denied their constitutional rights to access.

Both sides referred to Board of Education, Island Trees Union Free School District No. 26 v. Pico, 457 U.S. 853 (1982), a landmark case in which the United States Supreme Court split on the First Amendment issue of local school boards removing library books from junior high schools and high schools.

In that case, in September 1975, the Island Trees Board of Education received a list of books deemed inappropriate by Parents of New York United. The board temporarily removed the books from school libraries and formed a committee to review the list. The committee found that five of the nine books should be returned, but the board overruled the decision and returned only two of the books.

A group of five high school students (including one junior high school student), led by Steven Pico, filed a lawsuit against the school board by claiming a violation of First Amendment rights.

Four Justices ruled that it was unconstitutional, four Justices concluded the contrary, with a few minor exceptions, and one Justice concluded that the court need not decide the question on the merits. Pico was the first Supreme Court case to consider the right to receive information in a library setting under the First Amendment.

“Students are suffering immediate harm because they cannot access books that help them navigate the world or themselves. Granting a preliminary injunction would help alleviate that harm. We’re arguing today that until the courts can review the merits of the case, the removed book titles must be returned to school shelves," said Fletcher in a press release before appearing in court.

The judge adjourned and a decision on the injunction is pending.