Samantha LaFrance writes: “A new spate of state laws and policies is giving lie to the idea that banning books is about families making decisions for their own children. In Utah, Tennessee, Idaho, and South Carolina, state lawmakers have moved away from so-called “parental rights”—and into government-mandated book bans. In Utah, for example, House Bill 29 will require all schools in the state to remove a book that is deemed to be ‘objective sensitive material’ by just a few school districts in the state. [The Utah State Board of Education ordered 13 books removed from public schools in the state August 2.] In effect, the law will make the objections of just a handful of parents the law of the land.”
PEN America, July 29, July 18; New York Times, July 29; Salt Lake (Utah) Tribune, August 2.