ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – One year after suing the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District (MSBSD), the Northern Justice Project and ACLU of Alaska last week agreed to an $89,000 settlement with the state’s second-largest school district.
The lawsuit centered on MSBSD’s April 2023 removal of 56 book titles from district shelves and whether the move violated the First Amendment. Concerns that led to the book removal ranged from sexually explicit content to viewpoint-based reasons.
Savannah Fletcher, an attorney for Northern Justice Project, said the settlement confirms that you cannot simply remove dozens of books from school libraries because a minority dislikes them.
“Our Constitution protects freedom of speech and freedom of ideas. After successfully having the majority of those books returned to school shelves, we hope the District has learned to not judge a book by its cover,” Fletcher said.
The MSBSD countered in a press release, stating it has a ”duty to prioritize the funds they receive on educating children and not defending themselves against lawsuits.”
“The tactic of filing a case, garnering headlines, and then seeking attorney’s fees from the very organization you sued is probelmeitc for the Board and the District,” the MSBSD said in a statement.
The MSBSD added: “Perhaps recognizing they could not show the School Board members, the Administration, or Library Advisory Committee held impure and unconstitutional motives, the Northern Justice Project and the ACLU approached the District asking to settle the case outside of court. The District believes the plaintiffs filed a case, recognized that they would not prevail, and then asked to recoup attorney’s fees from the MSBSD instead of pursuing their case.”
The suit was initially filed on behalf eight plaintiffs, including six MSBSD parents on behalf of their children and two students over the age of 18 who claim that the book removal violated their First and 14th Amendment rights under the United States Constitution to free speech, press and political expression.
Some of the books initially removed included “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky; “The Lovely Bones” by Alice Sebold; “Sold” by Patricia McCormick and “Slaughterhouse Five” by Kurt Vonnegut.
The removal of the books happened before there was a committee to determine why the books were being removed, according to the lawsuit.
U.S District Court Judge Sharon Gleason found that while there was a policy to address complaints about instructional materials, where the superintendent and staff are tasked to review and determine the material, that policy was not followed.
In August, Gleason granted a preliminary injunction in the case and ordered that the District return all but seven of the 56 books it removed to its shelves by Aug. 14 — a day before the start of school.
“Given that the evidence suggests a favorable ruling for the Plaintiffs on a constitutional issue, irreparable harm is present. That harm, in turn, sharply outweighs any hardship experienced by the District at this point,” Gleason wrote in the preliminary injunction.
The seven books that did not return to the school libraries are “You” by Caroline Kepnes; “Verity,” “Ugly Love” and “It Ends with Us” by Colleen Hoover; “Call Me By Your Name” by André Aciman; “A Court of Silver Flames” and “A Court of Mist and Fury” by Sarah J. Maas.
The settlement was filed through federal court on Oct. 31.
The settlement agreement states that MSBSD will pay $89,000 to the plaintiffs to cover attorney’s fees and costs. The payment must be made within the month.
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