Return of books to school shelves sought WFTV [Video]

TALLAHASSEE , Fla. — In a key battleground in the larger debate about removing and restricting school books, plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the Escambia County School Board asked a federal judge this week to order officials to return to the shelves seven titles that have been off-limits for over a year.

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Lawyers for a parent who is a plaintiff also asked U.S. District Judge T. Kent Wetherell to block the school board’s attorneys from taking the deposition of “J.N.,” a 7-year-old who just completed first grade.

Attorneys for authors, a publishing company, parents and a non-profit organization filed the lawsuit last year, contending the Escambia school board violated First Amendment and equal-protection rights in removing 10 books from school-library shelves and restricting access to more than 150 others.

Wetherell in January allowed the lawsuit to proceed, rejecting motions to dismiss First Amendment claims but dismissing plaintiffs’ equal-protection allegations.

The …