1. Facts of the Case

Board of Education, Island Trees School District v. Pico (1982)

In February 1976, the Board of Education in New York removed nine books from the libraries of senior and junior high schools in the district. In the Board's opinion, the books were "anti-Christian, anti-American, anti-Semitic, or just plain filthy."(http://www.tourolaw.edu/patch/casesummary.asp) The president of the board at the time, Richard Ahrens, had brought a list of "objectionable" books to a conference held by Parents of New York United. After the list was discussed, it was discovered that several of the books were in local school libraries. The Board had given an "unofficial direction" to remove the books in question. The action was made public, and they issued a statement as an attempted justification. They created a Book Review Committee composed of four Island Trees parents and four school staff members to read the books and decide whether or not they should be removed. To be justified in court, their areas of concern need to be comprised of "educational suitability", "good taste", "relevance", and "appropriateness to grade and age level". (http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/comm/free_speech/pico.html) Five different students sued the school district. (Steven Pico, Jacqueline Gold, Glenn Yarris, Russell Rieger, and Paul Sochinski) Four from high schools and one from a junior high school that claimed the action violated the First Amendment. Although there have been previous cases involving the First Amendment and its effects on education, (West Virginia Board of Education V. Barnette, Tinker v. Des Moines School District) this one is different because it does not involve textbooks and it questions more about "rights" to receive information than freely expressing oneself on school grounds.