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The Miami-Dade County Public School District's decision to ban a book written for elementary school students about life in Cuba spawns a nearly book-length decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

The Miami-Dade County Public School District's decision to ban a book written for elementary school students about life in Cuba spawns a nearly book-length decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit: A reader forwards the opinion with the message "Another Carnes classic from the Southern frontier."

Circuit Judge Ed Carnes wrote the majority opinion, in which Senior U.S. District Judge Donald E. Walter of the Western District of Louisiana has joined. The majority holds that the school district's decision to ban the book "¡Vamos a Cuba!" after a parent who was formerly a political prisoner in Cuba complained about the book's accuracy did not violate the First Amendment.

Circuit Judge Charles R. Wilson issued a dissenting opinion, the conclusion of which begins: "For decades, residents of Communist Cuba have emigrated to the United States to escape the repressive totalitarian regime of its dictator, to seek freedom, and to enjoy the privileges of United States citizenship. Prominent among those privileges is the freedom of speech, protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The banning of children's books from a public school library under circumstances such as these offends the First Amendment."

Full post as published by How Appealing on February 05, 2009 (boomark / email).