Legal Question in Education Law in California

At my Son's school they caught a boy with a knife and the Principal decided to pull the book The Outsiders from the curriculum. The kids were also told if caught with the book on campus they would get detention. Can she do that? Is that legal to ban the book from school? Also nothing has come home to parents regarding any of this!


Asked on 5/17/13, 1:45 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Andrew Harrell W. Andrew Harrell, Attorney at Law

I have heard of school boards banning books. I believe they even banned Webster's dictionary. There are a number of cases that have argued the constitutionality of this practice. I'm not sure what the connection is between this particular book and a kid carrying a knife. (I supposed kids at your school can't sing anything from West Side Story either.) If you think this isn't right, take it to your school board. The Outsiders is at least 40 years old. It was controversial then, but not now.

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Answered on 5/17/13, 2:01 pm


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