ISLAND TREES SCHOOL DISTRICT v. PICO

Legal Principle at Issue

Does the First Amendment impose any limitations upon the discretion of Petitioners to remove library books from the Island Trees High School and Junior High School? If so, do the affidavits and other evidentiary materials before the District Court, construed most favorably to Respondents, raise a genuine issue of fact whether petitioners might have exceeded those limitations?

Action

Affirmed (includes modified). Petitioning party did not receive a favorable disposition.

Facts/Syllabus

The Board of Education for Island Trees Union Free School District No. 26, rejecting recommendations of a committee of parents and school staff that it had appointed, ordered that certain books, which the Board characterized as "anti-American, anti-Christian, anti-Sem[i]tic, and just plain filthy," be removed from high school and junior high school libraries. Respondent students then brought this action for declaratory and injunctive relief against the Board, alleging its actions denied respondents their rights under the First Amendment. The federal District Court granted summary judgment in petitioners' favor. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed and remanded for a trial on the merits of respondents' allegations.