Florida education leaders are trying to fend off a lawsuit filed by major publishing companies and authors over the removal of books from school libraries, disputing allegations that a controversial state law violates the First Amendment.
Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office Friday filed a 25-page motion arguing that claims in the lawsuit against State Board of Education members should be dismissed. Along with the state board members, the lawsuit also names as defendants members of the Orange County and Volusia County school boards.
The state’s motion, in part, said the “selection of public-school library books is government speech and therefore not subject to the First Amendment.”
“When the government selects materials to make available in a public-school library, it conveys that, in its view, those materials are of the ‘requisite and appropriate quality’ and will ‘be of the greatest direct benefit or interest to the community’ served,” the motion said, …