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Federal judge bans school board censorship of profane speech
A judge has lifted a ban enacted by Forsyth County Schools that prevented people from reading aloud school library books during a school board meeting.
FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. - A judge has lifted a ban enacted by Forsyth County Schools that prevented people from reading aloud school library books during a school board meeting.
During a meeting last year, the board censored a parent, Alison Hair, who read excerpts from a book they deemed "inappropriate" for children and banned her from future meetings.
Hair was joined by parent Cindy Martin, who are both part of the Mama Bears of Forsyth County, filed a federal lawsuit claiming the board violated her constitutional rights.
Under the judge's ruling Forsyth County Schools cannot ban reading aloud from any written work available in the county school district’s classrooms or library.
The board was also ordered to pay $17.91. The Institute for Free Speech, a First Amendment watchdog group which assisted in the lawsuit, noted that 1791 was the year the First Amendment was ratified.
The Mama Bears is family-values-based parent collation that is dedicated to "combating harmful curriculum" in the classroom.