A Colorado school district is once again under court order to put 19 books it had deemed “highly sensitive” back on its library shelves.
The Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday denied the Elizabeth School District’s request to pause the court’s preliminary injunction from earlier this month that ordered the titles to be re-shelved. In doing so, the appellate court also lifted a temporary stay on the order.
The fate of the 19 books — most of which center the stories of people of color or LGBTQ individuals — has played out through a series of court rulings in response to a December lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado alleging the books’ removal violated free speech protections.
Superintendent Dan Snowberger said the Elizabeth School District was disappointed by the court’s ruling, but noted the appeal is still pending — meaning the return of the books is not permanent at this point.
“We feel confident the problematic content of these books will be exposed during the appeal,” Snowberger wrote in an email. “In the meantime, we will respect and comply with the lower court’s order. We are in the process of obtaining copies of the books now since they are no longer in the district’s possession. Because the books were identified as books containing sensitive topics, they will be placed on the sensitive topics list so that parents who have chosen to ‘opt their children out’ of sensitive content will be able to do so as this case plays out.”
Tim Macdonald, ACLU of Colorado’s legal director, said he looks forward to the books being put back on shelves.
“The courts have once again confirmed what has always been true: the Elizabeth School District cannot remove books just because they don’t align with the board’s preferred political beliefs,” Macdonald said in a statement. “Ensuring students have access to a diversity of viewpoints in their school libraries is in the best interest of all students, parents and teachers.”
The court has yet to set a new deadline for the books to be returned.
Elizabeth school board members voted in the fall to remove the 19 titles — including “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini, Toni Morrison’s “Beloved” and “The Bluest Eye,” and Angie Thomas’ “The Hate U Give” — from library shelves because they contained passages describing sexual activity, “controversial social and political commentary,” “alternate sexualities,” “hate” and abortion.
A federal judge has twice before ordered the books to be returned to Elizabeth School District libraries, but appeals from the district stalled those court orders both times.
Books the Elizabeth School District has removed from shelves:
- “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas
- “Thirteen Reasons Why” by Jay Asher
- “#Pride: Championing LGBTQ Rights “by Rebecca Felix
- “You Should See Me in a Crown” by Leah Johnson
- “It’s Your World — If You Don’t Like It, Change It: Activism for Teenagers” by Mikki Halpin
- “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini
- “Beloved” and “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison
- “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky
- “Looking for Alaska” by John Green
- “Nineteen Minutes” by Jodi Picoult
- “Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson
- “Identical,” “Fallout,” “Glass,” “Burned,” “Crank” and “Smoke” by Ellen Hopkins
- “George” by Alex Gino
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