Two mothers have sued a Georgia school board for refusing to let them read aloud sexually explicit passages from district-approved library books at school board meetings.
In a lawsuit filed Monday in federal court, Cindy Martin and Alison Hair claim that Forsyth County Schools’ five-member board violated their constitutional rights to free expression by enforcing a public participation policy that forbids “profane, rude, defamatory remarks and personal attacks” during meetings.
The complaint seeks an injunction to overturn the policy.
“People cannot fairly pass judgment on books that they haven’t read. And when a school’s judgment as to which books young children should read is the subject of political debate, the First Amendment protects parents’ right to read aloud from these books, as well as the public’s right to hear the language at issue,” the complaint states.
According to the lawsuit, Ms. Martin has a child in the district and Ms. Hair is the mother of a past graduate. Both women belong to Mama Bears, a group of about 20 local parents that formed to identify and remove “pornographic books” from school libraries.
A spokeswoman for Forsyth County Schools said its officials do not comment on legal issues.
• Sean Salai can be reached at ssalai@washingtontimes.com.
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