Censorship In Public Schools

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can usually be
found from among the wealth of materials available on most subjects (Woods 1),
and the other side believes that students' "intellectual freedom" can be upheld
only if students are allowed to examine "any available relevant materials in
order to gain the insights needed to reach their own conclusions" (Woods 1). In
the simplest terms, the debate is between censorship and the freedom to read.
The most important question when discussing censorship deals with its
constitutionality; does censorship violate the First Amendment's guarantee of
free speech? Censorship advocates actually use the words of the First Amendment
to make their point; "the amendment reads, 'Congress shall make no law...", it
does not say, "There shall be no law...'" (Berger 69). They believe that,
although the federal government is forbidden to censor, it is not
unconstitutional for states and local communities to pass censorship laws
(Berger 69). Also, since the US Supreme Court does not believe ...

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the school board on grounds that their decision violated their First
Amendment rights. The suit was passed around the courts until June 1982 when the
Supreme Court took up the cause and ruled that the school board would have to
defend its removal of the books. The Supreme Court decided that since the
library is used voluntarily, they can choose books there freely and that, as
Justice Brennan stated, "the First Amendment rights of students may be directly
and sharply implicated by the removal of books from the shelves of a school
library (Jones 45). The Supreme Court's decision was that "courts may act our of
concern for the First Amendment rights of those affected by school ...

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