Book Banning and Libraries
This is a list of significant court cases related to book banning and libraries. The cases cover disputes such as the breadth of the authority of local school boards to remove certain books from school libraries, and the authority of the state to seize and destroy obscene books.
In A Quantity of Books v. Kansas (1964), the Court held that a state
statute allowing obscene materials to be seized and confiscated violated
the First Amendment.
Board of Education, Island Trees Union Free School District v. Pico (1982)
held that public schools can’t remove books to suppress ideas. Schools must
follow the First Amendment.
Evans v. Selma Union High School District of Fresno County (Cal. 1924) said
a high school buying copies of the Bible for its library did not violate
the First Amendment.
In Kingsley Books, Inc. v. Brown (1957), the Court upheld a state statute
that allowed for the destruction of obscene materials after an expedited
hearing.
Minarcini v. Strongsville City School District (6th Cir. 1976) upheld that
school board officials do not have unfettered discretion to remove books
from library shelves.
Smith v. California (1959) overturned a California law that criminalized
the sale of obscene books, saying it was too vague and infringed upon First
Amendment rights.
