Latest book ruling needs another review

OUR
OPINION: Full circuit court should decide ‘Vamos a Cuba’ controversy

A
Miami Herald editorial                                                       Read Spanish Version 

In
July 2006, U.S. District Judge Alan Gold issued a preliminary
injunction prohibiting the Miami-Dade County School Board from
removing the book Vamos
a Cuba from
its libraries. At the time, we applauded this sound affirmation of
First Amendment rights. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the last word. The
11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta has overturned Judge Gold’s
injunction — but that shouldn’t be the last word, either.

The
majority 2-1 decision offers an elaborate, 117-page rationale for
banning a book designed for readers ages 4 to 8. The majority finds
that the board acted not out of political motives — which is
prohibited by law — but out of a concern that the book was
inaccurate. To reach this conclusion, however, the majority ignored
the intense political passions that dominated the heated School Board
meetings.

It
also brushed aside the opinion of professional educators whose task
is to evaluate the suitability of books for our public schools. The
School Board majority overruled both a school committee (7-1 in favor
of retaining the book), as well as a district committee (15-1) that
evaluated Vamos
a Cuba.

In
dissent, Judge Charles Wilson chided the two-member majority for
supplanting their own judgment about the facts of the case for Judge
Gold’s judgment. Their job, he noted, is to interpret the law, not
delve into the facts when they were not in the courtroom to hear the
evidence.

Judge
Wilson noted that the slim volume is part of a ”superficial
geography series,” and that the claim of inaccuracy is simply ”a
pretense for viewpoint suppression.” The critical sins in the book
are those of omission, according to the School Board. Such an
impermissible standard for judging the merit of any volume would soon
leave the shelves of school and public libraries barren.

Besides,
the members of the School Board are supposed to decide policy issues,
not act as book reviewers. That’s what the professional staff is for.

Judge
Wilson noted in his dissent that Judge Gold had acknowledged ”the
dire situation in Cuba . . . but recognizing that life in Cuba is
oppressive does not justify constitutionally impermissible viewpoint
discrimination.” Precisely. If the book had condemned the Cuban
government, all other omissions or errors would have been deemed
irrelevant and no controversy would exist.

Four
federal judges have now looked at the Vamos
a Cuba
case. They have split 2-2 on the merits of the board’s action. Now it
needs to come under review by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in an
enbanc
hearing so that the full bench can look at the case and, we hope,
reaffirm that citizens in Miami and Miami-Dade County still enjoy
First Amendment rights.

http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/editorials/story/906160.html