Authors & major publishing houses sue over Florida book ban laws

A federal complaint was filed at the end of August in Orlando against Florida’s Department of Education, Orange Country and Volusia County school boards, by five major publishing houses and several authors, including John Green (The Fault in Our Stars, Looking For Alaska, Paper Towns), over a law that could make it easier to ban books.

The complaint, which was filed by Hachette, Harper Collins, Macmillan, Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuester, SourceBooks – with additional plaintiffs, John Green, Julia Alvarez, Laurie Halse Anderson, Jodi Picoult, Angie Thomas, two students, and two parents – claims that this law violates the First Amendment rights (which protect freedom of speech) of publishers, authors, teachers and students.

The suit is filed in regard to Florida law, HB 1069, “An act relating to education” which among other requirements and prohibitions, requires that “all materials used for specified instruction relating to reproductive health to be approved by the Department of Education… providing additional requirements for certain instruction regarding human sexuality; requiring the department to approve specified instructional materials… requiring certain classroom materials to be removed within a specified time period and be unavailable to certain students until the resolution of certain objections; providing that parents have the right to read passages from specified materials… and requiring the discontinuation of specified materials under certain circumstances.”

Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, Macmillan Publishers, Simon & Schuster, and Sourcebooks issued a joint statement explaining the lawsuit: “As publishers dedicated to protecting freedom of expression and the right to read, the rise in book bans across the country continues to demand our collective action. Fighting unconstitutional legislation in Florida and across the country is an urgent priority. We are unwavering in our support for educators, librarians, students, authors, readers—everyone deserves access to books and stories that show different perspectives and viewpoints.”

In response to the lawsuit, Florida Department of Education told Central Florida Public Media that “There are no books banned in Florida. Sexually explicit material and instruction are not suitable for schools.” While Orange County and Volusia County school boards said they could not comment on the lawsuit.

In a post on X, Green explained: “I am among those suing the state of Florida to end the state’s unconstitutional and deeply un-American banning of books. The removal of my books (and so many others) from hundreds of libraries is a despicable attack on intellectual freedom in the U.S.”

A press release from Penguin Random House adds: “As a result of HB 1069, hundreds of titles have been banned across the state since the bill went into effect in July 2023. The list of banned books includes classics such as Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway, and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, as well as contemporary novels by bestselling authors such as Margaret Atwood, Judy Blume, and Stephen King. Among nonfiction titles, accounts of the Holocaust such as The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank have been removed.

“HB 1069 requires school librarians to remove books that contain anything that can be construed as “sexual conduct,” with no consideration of the educational value of the work as a whole. If “a parent or a resident of the county” objects to a book, the book must be removed within five days and remain unavailable until the objection is resolved. There is no requirement to review a book within a reasonable time frame—or even to return it if it has been found not to violate the statute. If a book is returned to the library, an objector may request a review by a state-appointed special magistrate at the expense of the school district.”