Board of Education v. Pico1982

Book Banning Case

Janelle Stone

Island Trees Union Free School District Board of Education

• The Board ordered that certain books be removed from its district's junior high and high school libraries

• The Board said the books were: "anti-American, anti-Christian, anti-Semitic, and just plain filthy."

Pico

• Steven Pico brought suit in federal district court challenging the Board's decision to remove the books.

Question

• Did the Board’s decision violate the First Amendment's freedom of speech protections?

The Court System

• Federal District Court• The Board won

• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

• Reversed

• The Board petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court

• Granted certiorari

The U.S. Supreme CourtMarch 2, 1982

Justices of the CourtHarry A. BlackmunWilliam J. Brennan, Jr. Thurgood Marshall John Paul Stevens Byron R. White

Dissenting JusticesWarren E. BurgerSandra Day O'ConnorLewis F. Powell, Jr.William H. Rehnquist

RulingJune 25, 1982

• The Supreme Court recognized the need for the school to uphold the social and moral values of the community

• School libraries have special free speech and press rights

• The Board’s power was ruled secondary to the First Amendment

• Therefore, the Board could not restrict the books in the library simply because they did not agree with them

Related Cases

• Meyer v. Nebraska, 262 U.S. 390 (1923).• Pierce v. Society of Sisters, 268 U.S. 510 (1925).• West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette, 319

U.S. 624 (1943).• Brown v. Louisiana, 383 U.S. 131 (1966).• Keyishian v. Board of Regents of the University of

the State of New York, 385 U.S. 589 (1967).• Epperson v. Arkansas, 393 U.S. 97 (1968).• Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School

District, 393 U.S. 503 (1969).• Ambach v. Norwick, 441 U.S. 68 (1979).• Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser, 478 U.S.

675 (1986).

Related Books• Gold, John Coopersmith. “Board of Education V. Pico: Book

Banning.” Lerner Pub Group: 1994.

• Hentoff, Nat. "Censoring the Right to Live." The Progressive,February 1995, p. 19.

• Peck, Robert S. and Ann K. Symons. "Kids Have First Amendment Rights, Too." American Libraries, September 1997, p. 64.

• Seidman, Louis M., Gerald R. Stone, Cass R. Sunstein, Mark V. Tushnet. Constitutional Law. Little, Brown and Company: 1986.

Sources• "Board of Education, Island Trees Union Free School

District No. 26 v. Pico by Pico (No. 80-2043)." Supreme Court Collection. Cornell University Law School. 28 Nov. 2008 <http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/ussc_cr_0457_0853_zs.html>.

• Goldman, Jerry. "Board Of Education v. Pico." U.S. Supreme Court Media Oyez. 28 Nov. 2008 <http://www.oyez.org/cases/1980-1989/1981/1981_80_2043/>.

• Harrison, Maureen, and Steve Gilbert, eds. "Book Banning: Board of Education v. Pico." Landmark Decisions of the United States Supreme Court. Vol. IV. Beverly Hills, CA: Exellent Books, 1991. 161-74.

• "ISLAND TREES SCH. DIST. V. PICO BY PICO, 457 U. S. 853 (1982)." Justia.com U.S. Supreme Court Center. 28 Nov. 2008 <http://supreme.justia.com/us/457/853/case.html>.