Federal judge orders Colorado district to return banned books to school libraries

A federal judge on Wednesday ordered Elbert County’s Elizabeth School District to restore library books the district banned by next week, prohibiting the district from further restrictions on access to books that the school board objects to politically.

U.S. District Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney issued a preliminary injunction stating the banned books must be returned to school libraries by Tuesday. The order also prohibits the school board from removing books “because the district disagrees with the views expressed therein or merely to further their preferred political or religious orthodoxy.”

The injunction comes after the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado sued the school district in December for removing books from school libraries — titles largely featuring people of color or LGBTQ individuals — in an act the organization alleged violated free speech protections.

Superintendent Dan Snowberger said the Elizabeth School District is reviewing the decision.

“We respect the judge’s order, but we are particularly disappointed with the decision to avoid a hearing so the district could explain the board’s decision and the careful and transparent process it followed before removing the books,” Snowberger said in a statement. “We will be appealing the decision, and the district stands by the board’s decision to remove sexually explicit and age-inappropriate content from our school libraries.”

Tim Macdonald, the ACLU of Colorado’s legal director, called the decision a major victory for the students of Elizabeth and all Coloradans.

“Having access to a diversity of viewpoints is integral to the well-being and education of all students, and this injunction gives them that opportunity,” Macdonald wrote in a statement.

In the lawsuit, the ACLU represented two students within the school district, the Rocky Mountain Regional NAACP and the nation’s oldest and largest professional organization for published writers, The Authors Guild.

Last summer, the Elizabeth Board of Education created a committee to determine which books in the district’s school libraries contained “sensitive topics” including racism, discrimination, mental illness and sexual content. The committee identified 19 books it found to be “highly sensitive” that should be removed from the district’s school libraries.

The removed books primarily featured Black, brown and LGBTQ people, the ACLU said, including “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas, “Beloved” and “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison, “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini and “#Pride: Championing LGBTQ Rights” by Rebecca Felix.

In September, the board announced the 19 books would be removed permanently from school libraries. The board also enacted a policy prohibiting students from sharing books with each other, the lawsuit said.

In the lawsuit, the ACLU requested the books be returned to the Elizabeth School District’s libraries and asked for an injunction prohibiting the board from removing books based on the ideas contained within them.

“School districts that ban books because the officials disagree with the content or viewpoints expressed in those books do a disservice to students, authors and the community,” Macdonald said. “Such book bans violate the Constitution — period. We’ll keep fighting to ensure a permanent end to this practice.”

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