Amicus Brief: Moms for Liberty v. NYSED

The NYCLU filed an amicus brief in a book banning case brought by Moms for Liberty, an extremist group trying to remove five books from Clyde Savannah Central School District library shelves for “cultural and political” reasons. Two of the books in question are All Boys Aren’t Blue — a memoir about growing up as a queer Black man — and People Kill People, a novel about gun violence and white supremacy. 

In an amicus brief, we argue that Article 1 Section 8 of New York’s Constitution — our state’s First Amendment equivalent — is broad, and when paired with the right to “a sound, basic education,” ultimately secures New York’s students the right to access information. And, as decided in NYCLU’s landmark 1982 case Island Trees School District v. Pico, “school boards may not remove books from school library shelves simply because they dislike the ideas contained in the books.”