On Thursday, October 31st, Northern Justice Project and the ACLU of Alaska settled Dawn Adams, et. al v. Mat-Su Borough School District, which argued that the Mat-Su Borough School District (MSBSD) violated students' First Amendment rights when it removed 56 book titles from district library shelves in April 2023 because they contained ideas that the District did not agree with.
The suit was initially filed on behalf eight plaintiffs, including six MSBSD parents on behalf of their minor children and two MSBSD students over the age of 18 who claim that the book removal violated their First and Fourteenth Amendment rights under the United States Constitution to free speech, press, and political expression. In August, U.S District Court Judge Sharon Gleason granted a preliminary injunction in the case and ordered that the District return all but 7 of the 56 books it removed to its shelves by August 14, 2024, a day before the start of school.
"First the court, and now this settlement, confirm what these students and their parents have known all along: you cannot remove dozens of books from school libraries simply because a vocal minority dislike those books,” said Savannah Fletcher, attorney for Northern Justice Project. “Our Constitution protects freedom of speech and freedom of ideas. After successfully having the majority of those books returned to school shelves, we hope the District has learned to not judge a book by its cover."
The settlement agreement states that MSBSD will pay $89,000 to the plaintiffs.
“We hope that the Mat-Su Borough School District – and other school districts in Alaska that might be considering attempts to ban books – understand the gravity of unconstitutional censorship and its legal consequences,” said Ruth Botstein, Legal Director for the ACLU of Alaska. “We hope that the school district will focus its energies on educating students rather than trying to suppress ideas.”