Constitutional concerns over banning books

PICKENS COUNTY, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - A member of the South Carolina ACLU spoke directly to board members Monday night over constitutional concerns when it comes to banning books.

This comes after the book “Stamped, Racism, Anti-racism, and You” was unanimously voted out of all Pickens County Schools last week.

Josh Malkin is a legislative advocate for the SC ACLU. He said, banning books, like “Stamped”, goes against the first amendment.

" The supreme court in the United States has been clear that the censorship of books is unconstitutional. The court ruled over 40 years ago that local school boards may not remove books from school library shelves simply because they dislike the ideas contained in these books”, said Malkin.

Malkin told the county board he is aware they didn’t vote to remove the book but brought it to their attention because it could open the door to a lawsuit.

Malkin told Fox Carolina, he plans to speak at the next county school board meeting.

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