The Duval County School Board has been accused of violating the First Amendment rights of a parent who was shut down by the board while making public comments concerning questionable materials used in the government schools.
In addition, under Florida law the board’s action apparently requires the school district to remove the questioned book from its shelves.
According to a memo sent to all school superintendents Oct.13 by the state Board of Education, the state law says, “Parents have a right to read passages from any material that is subject to an objection and if the school board denies a parent the right to read passages due to the material being pornographic, the school district shall discontinue use of the material.”
Lori Crunden attended the School Board meeting of Nov. 7 and attempted during the time set for public comments to read from a book called Identical by Ellen Hopkins.
She was interrupted and prevented from concluding her remarks, even though she had time remaining in the two minutes that was allotted speakers.
Liberty Counsel, the law firm representing Crunden, told Board Chairman Daryl Willie in a letter dated Feb. 13, “DCPS may not silence public debate. The text of Identical was a proper subject of public comment because it is a book available in certain schools within the DCPS, which is in violation of Florida law.”
Liberals who are fighting to supply pornography to young children in the government schools falsely claim that not allowing children to read such material is “book banning” and “censorship.” Crunden’s lawyers debunked that claim, pointing out that parents clearly have a right to insist upon age-appropriate material for children.
The Far Left has tried to hide its pro-pornography campaign by claiming it is related to what they call “LGBT,” which is a reliable voting bloc for the Democrat Party. But the ruse is not working.
Liberty Counsel noted that the daughter of a lesbian mother addressed similar concerns at a school board meeting about pornographic material made available to students in Fairfax County, Va.
“This isn’t about the LGBTQ community and it’s not about the gender of the people depicted in the books having sex, it’s not about the orientation of the people in the book having sex. It’s about pornography and pedophilia,” she said.
The lawyers asked Willie to respond in writing by Feb. 27 stating that:
- DCPS will not limit Lori Crunden’s efforts in the future to make public comments with the use of textual material from DCPS library books as DCPS did at the Nov. 7, 2023, meeting;
- DCPS will demonstrate that the book entitled Identical, authored by Ellen Hopkins, has been removed from student access throughout all DCPS campuses
- DCPS will demonstrate that any other book containing sexually explicit material in violation of Florida law has been removed from student access throughout all DCPS campuses;
- DCPS will post the challenge process on its website.
Attorney James H.K. Bruner of Liberty Counsel said Crunden will take appropriate legal action if the letter is not received. He credited the local chapter of Citizens Defending Freedom with bringing the case to his firm’s attention.
