Dictionaries a casualty of right-wing book ban panic

>>> IT HAPPENED IN THE BLUE >>> IT HAPPENED IN THE BLUE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS. LAST MONTH, THE PLAIN CLOTHES POLICE OFFICER WEARING A BODY CAM ENTERED A MIDDLE SCHOOL CLASSROOM AFTER CLASSES WERE DONE FOR THE DAY. HE CAN DARE TO INVESTIGATE A POTENTIAL CRIME OF OBSCENITY AFTER AN ANONYMOUS CALLER COMPLAINED ABOUT SEEING A BOOK WITH ALLEGEDLY SEXUALLY EXPLICIT IMAGES ON THE SHELF IN THE CLASSROOM. THE BOOK IS GENDER QUEER, WHAT THEY MUST COMMONLY CHALLENGED BOOKS IN THE IN THAT ESTATES. HERE IS HOW THAT INVESTIGATION WENT, AS CAPTURED BY THE OFFICER’S CAMERA. >> SO THIS IS

THE ISSUE. >> OKAY. >> IT’S NOT THE GENERAL IDEA OF WHAT THE BOOKS ABOUT. IT’S THAT YOU CAN’T PRESENT THAT KIND OF MATERIAL TO PEOPLE UNDER 18. >> OKAY. >> SO THAT’S OUR CONCERN, MAN. THAT’S WHY WE’RE HERE. >> YEAH, IT’S A MEMOIR ABOUT COMING OF AGE. >> IT TURNS OUT THAT THE BOOK WAS NOT ACTUALLY IN THE TEACHERS CLASSROOM AT THAT MOMENT, SO THE OFFICER COULD NOT SEIZE IT. THE POLICE LATER APOLOGIZED AND LAST NIGHT, THE SCHOOL DISTRICT INITIATED INTO HOW THIS HAPPENED, BUT STILL, A VERY MUCH HAPPENED AND THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS. ON

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COUNTRY, SOME PEOPLE WOULD LIKE TO SEE MORE OF THIS KIND OF THING. A FEW WEEKS AGO AND EL PASO COUNTY, COLORADO, A GROUP OF REPUBLICANS DELIVERED A PETITION TO THEIR LOCAL PROSECUTOR, CALLING FOR HIM

TO ENFORCE OBSCENITY LAWS AND REMOVE HUNDREDS OF BOOKS FROM LOCAL SCHOOLS. AND THEN THERE IS WHAT IS HAPPENING THIS WEEK IN THE FLORIDA SCHOOL DISTRICT, DISCRETIONARY, AS IN DICTIONARIES WERE TAKEN OFF LIBRARY SHELVES BECAUSE THEY DESCRIBED WORDS LIKE SEX, AND THAT CAN POTENTIALLY PUT THE SCHOOL LIBRARIES IN VIOLATION OF A FLORIDA LAW SIGNED BY GOVERNOR DESANTIS

LAST YEAR THAT GIVES ANY PERSON IN THE SAY THE RIGHT TO DEMAND THE REMOVAL OF ANY BOOK THAT THE PIXAR DESCRIBES SEXUAL MISCONDUCT. DICTIONARIES ARE PART OF A LIST OF MORE THAN 1600 TITLES, INCLUDING THE GUINNESS BOOK OF WORLD RECORDS, THEY DIARY OF AND FRANK AND BIOGRAPHIES OF BEYONCÉ AND OPRAH WINFREY, ALL OF WHICH NOW UNDER REVIEW IN THE SCHOOL DISTRICT, ACCORDING TO THE FLORIDA FREEDOM TO READ PROJECT. TO BE CLEAR, THE DISTRICT SAID THAT THEY WANT THOUSAND PLUS BUCKS HAVE NOT BEEN BANNED OR REMOVED FROM THE SCHOOL DISTRICT, RATHER, THEY HAVE SIMPLY BEEN PULLED

FOR FURTHER REVIEW TO ENSURE COMPLIANCE IN THE NEAR THAT SELECTION. AND OTHER WORDS, DICTIONARIES, MAY STILL BE AVAILABLE TO SCHOOL STUDENTS AT SOME POINT. ONCE THEY HAVE BEEN DEEMED SAFE FOR CONSUMPTION. IN THE MEANTIME, A FEDERAL JUDGE AS RULED THE LAWSUIT FILED BY PEN AMERICA ALONG WITH AUTHORS OF THE CHALLENGE BOOKS, AS WELL AS CONCERNED PARENTS WHO THINK DICTIONARIES ARE USEFUL IN SCHOOL, A JUDGE RULED THAT THAT LAWSUIT AGAINST THE