Florida's literary inquisition

In a chilling meeting of the Florida State Board of Education last week, a school district superintendent was publicly browbeaten and repeatedly threatened with criminal prosecution. The members of the State Board were incensed that Van Ayres, the Superintendent of Hillsborough County Public Schools, had not unilaterally and permanently removed a list of 55 books from school libraries.

While Florida Republicans have defended removing books from public school libraries in the name of "parents' rights," no Hillsborough County parent had objected to the books at issue. Rather, the State Board had summarily declared that the 55 books were "pornography," even though none of the books met the legal definition of pornographic material.

Many of the books targeted by the State Board are award-winning literature that have been read by students for years — including two finalists for the National Book Award for Young People's Literature, Patricia McCormick's Sold and Elana K. Arnold's What Girls Are Made Of. Also included was Forever, a seminal young adult novel by Judy Blume, winner of the American Library Association's Margaret A. Edwards Award, which honors the best young adult authors.

These books include sexual content and other mature themes. But they are not smut or pornography. They are works of literature that have long been recognized as valuable material for many high school students. The Florida Freedom to Read Project obtained the full list of books that the State Board wants immediately banned from public schools.

Ayres had ordered the removal of all 55 books — and hundreds of others — after receiving threatening letters from Florida Secretary of Education Manny Diaz Jr. (R) and Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier (R). But the State Board was angered that, with the exception of six books, Ayres indicated the materials would be reviewed by the schools’ librarians, known in Florida as media specialists, to determine which books were age-appropriate and which should be removed permanently.

Kelly Garcia, who was appointed to the State Board by Governor Ron DeSantis (R) in 2023, suggested that librarians in Hillsborough County were illiterate and told Ayres they lacked a "single shred of decency." She described the librarians as "child abusers" and asked if Ayres had considered firing all of them.

Ryan Petty, appointed by DeSantis in 2020, told Ayres it was time to demonstrate "courage." According to Petty, Ayres should tell librarians and others in his school district, "I don't care what the rules say." Then, Ayres should order the permanent removal of the "garbage" from the library and tell district librarians that anyone who does not comply will be "terminated immediately."

Diaz warned Ayres that any district official, including Ayres, librarians, or members of the Hillsborough School Board, who was "complicit" in allowing these allegedly "pornographic" books in libraries would be subject to criminal prosecution by the State Attorney General. He warned all parties to be "very careful."

Ben Gibson, the State Board Chair, demanded that Ayres remove all 55 books within two weeks. (Gibson incorrectly stated there were 57 books on the list.) Gibson told Ayres not to let the books be subject to "an expensive review process" and instead "be done with it."

The public flogging was effective, and Ayres agreed to permanently remove all 55 books from the list. The DeSantis administration is using threats and intimidation as a substitute for legislative action.

A failed bill

The Florida State Board of Education’s effort to remove any books with sexual content, despite the wishes of parents in Hillsborough County, mirrors a legislative push that failed in the Florida State Senate this year.

In February, two parallel bills were introduced in the Florida House and Senate: HB 1539 and SB 1692. The bills proposed prohibiting school districts from considering a book’s “potential literary, artistic, political, or scientific value” when evaluating whether it should be removed from the district’s libraries after it has been challenged. Essentially, books could be removed for having any “obscene” content, regardless of any other merit of the work. School districts that did not comply could have lost state funds.

Doug Bankson (R), the sponsor of the House version of the bill, argued that the legislation was constitutionally sound because obscenity is not protected speech. However, the Supreme Court established a test in 1973 to determine what is obscene, which contradicts Bankson’s narrative. The final part of the three-pronged Miller test states that a work is obscene if “a reasonable person finds that the matter, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.”

HB 1539 and SB 1692 would have amounted to the state of Florida trying to override a long-standing legal principle decided by the Supreme Court half a century ago. While the House passed the bill, it ultimately languished in the Senate Education Committee.

Now, the Florida State Board of Education is attempting to force this constitutionally dubious policy on school districts with threats of criminal charges without any legislative mandate to do so.

The groups behind the bans

Both the legislation and the book bans are being advocated for by two right-wing groups, Moms for Liberty and Citizens Defending Freedom.

Since 2021, Moms for Liberty has pushed to limit conversations about race and LGBTQ issues in schools, remove books from school libraries, and limit sex education curricula. The group’s website argues that the organization is “fighting for the survival of America by unifying, educating and empowering parents to defend their parental rights at all levels of government.”

Moms for Liberty has reported school librarians to law enforcement for letting a student check out a popular young adult novel, claiming that they were distributing “pornography;” convinced a school district to “draw clothes” over illustrated books that depicted figures without clothes, including Maurice Sendak’s In The Night Kitchen; and argued that young adult books about Martin Luther King Jr. and Ruby Bridges were “critical race theory.”

Citizens Defending Freedom’s website states that its “resources empower citizens to hold school boards, local officials, and other governing bodies accountable, ensuring they uphold the principles of freedom and liberty.” The group’s “focused efforts” include “uncovering corruption,” “promoting our faith,” and “election integrity.”

Citizens Defending Freedom has attempted to remove dozens of books from school libraries. In Nassau County, Florida, the group succeeded in getting 36 books removed, including And Tango Makes Three, a true story about two male penguins who lived in the Central Park Zoo and raised an adopted chick together. The books were later promised to be returned to the shelves as part of a settlement agreement reached during a lawsuit involving authors and parents.

The group has also protested against sex education curricula and schools celebrating Pride month.