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California legislature approves fines for school book bans

  • 1.  California legislature approves fines for school book bans

    Posted Sep 09, 2023 06:55 PM
    Hello everyone,

    I am an IFRT member in California and thought you might be interested in an unusual new law in this state regarding book bans.

    The two sources shown below report that this bill (AB1078) was passed on September 7 and is assured of being signed by Governor Gavin Newsom who actively supported it. The legislation would impose fines on local school boards for banning textbooks due to their coverage of racial or LGBTQ+ topics. This comes in response to the Temecula school board and others having raised objections to the inclusion of such materials in textbooks. The Temecula board specifically objected to the mention of slain San Francisco elected official Harvey Milk, a gay activist.

    The Los Angeles Times discussed this new legislation at length in its September 9, 2023 article "Legislature OKs fines for school book bans" by Mackenzie Mays. The article is available online but only to subscribers.

    A shorter article visible to everyone online is located at Politico titled "California Legislature sends Newsom his 'anti-book ban' bill" written by Blake Jones on September 7, 2023.

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    Sanford Holst

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