Major publishing companies and bestselling authors are suing over Florida book bans

Some of the biggest publishing companies, bestselling young adult authors and local parents are suing in federal court over Florida law regulating books in school libraries.

Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, authors John Green, Jodi Picoult and Laurie Halse Anderson, and others filed the federal lawsuit against Florida state education officials and Orange County and Volusia County School Boards.

“As publishers dedicated to protecting freedom of expression and the right to read, the rise in book bans across the country continues to demand our collective action,” read a joint statement by the plaintiff publishers, which also include Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, Macmillan Publishers and Sourcebooks.

“Fighting unconstitutional legislation in Florida and across the country is an urgent priority. We are unwavering in our support for educators, librarians, students, authors, readers — everyone deserves access to books and stories that show different perspectives and viewpoints.”

The lawsuit in U.S. District Court’s Orlando division is challenging HB 1069, which gives parents more control over what books are allowed in school libraries. The law bans school books that are considered pornographic or inappropriate and requires schools to catalog their materials, as well as create a process for adults to object over the books.

But the lawsuit said HB 1069 violates the First Amendment rights of publishers and authors by imposing “a regime of strict censorship in school libraries.”

“This is a stunt,” Florida Department of Education spokesperson Sydney Booker said Thursday about the lawsuit. “There are no books banned in Florida. Sexually explicit material and instruction are not suitable for schools.”

But the lawsuit alleged that schools are pulling hundreds of books that aren’t inappropriate or have passages taken out of context.

“HB 1069 requires school districts to remove library books without regard to their literary, artistic, political, scientific, or educational value when taken as a whole,” the lawsuit said. “HB 1069 incentivizes school districts to remove many more books than the First Amendment allows.

The new law has a chilling effect on schools, the lawsuit said.

“Some teachers have removed all of the books in their classroom libraries to avoid any objection to or controversy surrounding those books due to HB 1069,” the lawsuit said. “Media specialists have done the same — removing books to avoid objections and controversies arising from HB 1069 — to avoid jeopardizing their licensure.”

The lawsuit points to classic books from Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” Leo Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina,” Ernest Hemingway’s “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” and Kurt Vonnegut’s “Slaughter-House Five.”

“These books are timeless classics, renowned for their literary value. Many of them have won awards or are bestsellers. They have been on the shelves of school libraries for years, and they are not remotely obscene,” the lawsuit said. “But Florida has required these books and others to be removed from school libraries under its broad, across-the-board, content-based mandates that forbid consideration of the books’ value.”

This isn’t the first lawsuit of its kind.

Last year, Penguin Random House, Green (author of “Fault in Our Stars”), Picoult (author of “My Sister’s Keeper”) and Anderson (author of “Speak”) filed a similar lawsuit over Iowa’s book bans.

Iowa passed a new law forbidding school books with any mention of sex acts unless the books were religious or about health.

The Des Moines Register reported that U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Locher, a President Joe Biden appointee, stopped Iowa’s book bans with a temporary injunction.

Earlier this month, appeals court Judges ruled Iowa’s book bans can be enforced.

“The purpose of public school libraries is to advance the school curriculum — that is, to facilitate the pedagogical mission of the school, which may involve some limitation of expression,” a trio of Judges wrote in their decision.

Florida Politics did not receive a message of comment from the Volusia County School Board on the lawsuit. An Orange County School Board spokesperson said the District had not been served yet and did not comment further.

Florida Politics also was unable to get comment from Green, who grew up in Orlando and is coming back to speak at the Orange County Library in January.