Arrest for Sharing a Book?

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Arrest for Sharing a Book?

1aspirit
Ott 3, 2022, 6:28 pm

"If I were to hand this book to a child on the street, I’d be arrested," a parent in Arizona reportedly said. She argued that was a reason "this should not be in our schools."

Source: https://santansun.com/2022/09/27/cusd-parent-alarmed-by-book-her-son-found-in-sc...

The book has won numerous literary awards, including New York Public Library's 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing in 2015 and inclusion in the American Library Association's Rainbow Book List for Juvenile Fiction in 2016. It is realistic fiction similar to many chapter books featuring upper elementary school students except that it's main character is transgender.

As far as I know, the only restriction on the distribution of juvenile fiction within the state of Arizona is on school property—which is a controversial restriction on its own.

Meanwhile across the country, teachers, principals, library workers, and even bookstores are being investigated for breaking the law for allowing children access to children's books.

Are we at a point in which US residents could be arrested for giving a neighbor kid or young book buyer an acclaimed, fact-based novel?

2Nicole_VanK
Ott 3, 2022, 11:57 pm

Ugh....

3elenchus
Ott 4, 2022, 2:57 pm

Shoddy journalism: unclear from the article whether, in fact, a person in Arizona would be arrested were they to share any book with any other person, whether on school grounds or anywhere else. Whether the reader supports the situation as it legally stands, is one thing; but not to make clear what that situation is, is simply poor reporting.

I hope we're not close to the point where anyone in the U.S. could be arrested for sharing any book with anyone else, citizen or not. But I know that there's a concerted effort to ban books, suppress ideas, and I suspect there are situations in which it is already happening. The confusion surrounding all of this currently supports those in favour of banning.

4aspirit
Modificato: Ott 14, 2022, 8:41 pm

I agree the article reads as bad reporting, which isn't reassuring in the slightest.

Going through old emails for a cleanup, I found an article from March about one of the several states that has been talking about arresting librarians for loaning "harmful" books to patrons.

"Idaho librarians could face jail time for lending 'harmful' books" | Boise State Public Radio News
https://www.boisestatepublicradio.org/politics-government/2022-03-03/idaho-libra...

The books mentioned as examples of what librarians could be arrested for are Prince & Knight (a delightful fairy tale published for young children), Auntie Uncle: Drag Queen Hero (which I haven't ever seen), Jonathan Evison's Lawn Boy (falsely described as depicting pedophilia because of a minor subplot involving the possibly-gay POV character's struggles to reconcile a same-sex peer's sexual interest in childhood with his more abusive behavior as an adult), and Gender Queer: A Memoir (one of the frequently banned books that has made headlines in the past year).

In a counterpoint, The Book of Ezekiel in The Bible was quoted.

The article writer, James Dawson, chose several classic examples of banned or burned books "over the years" from an ALA list-- Of Mice and Men, 1984, and To Kill a Mockingbird-- and also brought up Maus.

I don't know what's happened with the law or if I've come across reports that librarians anywhere in the USA have been arrested in the past seven months for giving someone a book to read.

edited to correct typos and to remove a mild spoiler

5aspirit
Modificato: Ott 14, 2022, 9:52 pm

Here's the proposal in Idaho: HB 666.

https://legislature.idaho.gov/sessioninfo/2022/legislation/h0666/

Another news source, Idaho Press(*), described a "secret folder" of book examples that lawmakers considered too obscene for public viewing. The books addressed in the folder:

It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing bodies, growing up, sex, gender and sexual health by Robie H. Harris and Michael Emberly

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

All Boys Aren't Blue (a memoir) by George M. Johnson

Dreaming In Cuban by Cristina Garcia

Identical by Ellen Hopkins

Fun Home: A family tragicomic by Alison Bechdel

Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe

A State Representative was quoted as saying, "I would rather my 6-year-old grandson start smoking cigarettes tomorrow than get a view of this stuff one time." (None of the listed books have been found shelved in the section for that age in the state's public libraries.) A member of the House in the same political party referred to the books above as "pornography".

Another Representative on the opposing side was quoted as saying "It’s unfair" to expect librarians to police books. "That’s really the parent’s job."

The bill to remove the exemption for librarians and educators passed the House on a 51-14 vote but stalled in Idaho's Senate.

Violators the law, which applies to everyone in the state who isn't among the exempt, are punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 and up to a year in jail.

(*I'm having trouble copying the direct links and headlines to the two articles used for this post. The homepage is at https://www.idahopress.com. Please note there might be a paywall.)

6aspirit
Ott 14, 2022, 10:36 pm

"Missouri schools are taking books off shelves due to 'sexually explicit' content ban" that comes from a new state law criminalizing the sharing of visual media, including book illustrations, that show sex organs or sexual acts. Allowing a student to access banned material at a private or public school in the state could result in a fine and up to one year in jail.

Source: All Things Considered, NPR, https://www.npr.org/2022/08/26/1119724459/missouri-schools-are-taking-books-off-...

Is this for K-12 schools? What about homeschool co-ops? What exactly does "sexually explicit" mean? How much is the fine?

The linked interview is from August, when classes might not have started yet. What's happened since then?

7aspirit
Ott 15, 2022, 12:23 am

Trying to find consistent answers from Missouri feels like trying to make sense of a Donald Trump speech. Everyone has an interpretation, and because of the contradictions within the source, the interpretations contradict each other.

At one point, I decided to focus on what books the author of the latest passed legislation has said of his intentions. The State Senator has repeatedly said "filth" and "pornography" is offered by school libraries (which I've determined means K-12, where students ages typically range from five through 18 years). He shared a copy of his own tweet a month ago on Facebook account "ElectRickBrattin" saying he's "proud to have banned these books in school libraries." When asked on Facebook which books those are, he avoided providing titles and wrote that "this law does not specify a list of books. It’s specific to the content. It’s up to the school to go through their books and make the determination based off the very specific wording of this amendment."

I read the amendment and the state's guidance for it. The wording is not as "clear" as state officials insist it is. I don't think it's worth the effort of linking here.

On Twitter and Facebook, Brattin also shared a direct quote and the link to a Fox News article that described the books most recognized during the ALA's Banned Books Week as "Porn for Kids".

Another foolish fact: In an earlier tweet, Brattin argued that despite his acknowledgment that his law bans books, "This isn’t a book ban. You can get these books anywhere. Just not in MO publicly funded schools."

Meanwhile, his supporters are complaining about LGBTQ nonfiction existing in public (general community) libraries.

It's a mess.

Oh, and by the way, the fine for violations (as in, possibly, anyone affiliated with a school knowingly sharing banned content with a K-12 student under the age of 18 years) might be $2,000. Assuming any judge in the state would attempt to shift through the word maze to rule for a violation.