By Aidan Mortensen | KOAL News
Following the latest round of statewide school book bans, the American Civil Liberties Union – representing authors Elana K. Arnold, Ellen Hopkins, and Amy Reed, as well as the Kurt Vonnegut estate and two anonymous high school students – announced that they are suing state officials for what they describe as “blatant violations of the free speech rights of students and authors alike.”
The lawsuit specifically targets HB374, the Sensitive Materials in Schools Act. Under this bill, the state can remove books from schools statewide if at least three school districts, or two districts and five charter schools, determine that a book is pornographic or otherwise offensive.
Currently, 22 titles are banned in schools statewide, including Arnold’s novels “Damsel” and “What Girls are Made of”; Hopkins’ “Tilt,” “Fallout” and “Tricks.” Vonnegut’s “The Slaughterhouse Five” was banned by the Washington County School District in 2023 after being deemed “pornographic.”
Most recently, the state banned “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West” by Gregory Maguire; “Nineteen Minutes” by Jodi Picoult; and “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky.
“The right to read and the right to free speech are inseparable. The First Amendment protects our freedom to read, learn, and share ideas free from unconstitutional censorship,” said Tom Ford, staff attorney at the ACLU of Utah, in a release Tuesday afternoon. “This law censors constitutionally protected books, silences authors, and denies students access to ideas, in violation of the First Amendment rights of students and authors alike, and must be struck down.”
In the lawsuit, Arnold speaks on the contents of her novels: “We do not live in a world where no one experiences sexual assault, gaslighting, or abuse. These issues are real concerns for teens today and pretending otherwise does them a disservice.”
She adds,” Teen girls do not need us to protect them from the truths of our world. They need us to arm them with knowledge, belief in their experiences, and our stories.”
One of the student plaintiffs, who is listed as Doe #1 in the lawsuit, says she was sexually assaulted and turned to books on the topic as a coping mechanism. She wanted to read “What Girls are Made of,” but said she couldn’t because of the ban. The ACLU argues that, as a result, Doe is “robbed of perspectives and narratives that would allow Doe #1 to process and learn from her experiences rather than being unprepared to encounter these in adult life.”
In a statement from the Utah State Board of Education, a spokesperson confirms the board is aware of the lawsuit and is “committed to fulfilling our responsibilities under state law and supporting local education agencies in serving Utah students.”