Skip to Main Content

Banned Books Week Information and Resources

Banned Books Week guide

The Bill of Rights

 

The Bill of Rights is the collective name for the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. These amendments were ratified in 1791 and were designed to protect individual liberties and limit government power. The first amendment reads:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

The Long History of Censorship

By Mette Newth
Norway, 2010

Censorship has followed the free expressions of men and women like a shadow throughout history. In ancient societies, for example China, censorship was considered a legitimate instrument for regulating the moral and political life of the population. The origin of the term censor can be traced to the office of censor established in Rome 443 BC. In Rome, as in the ancient Greek communities, the ideal of good governance included shaping the character of the people. Hence censorship was regarded as an honourable task. In China, the first censorship law was introduced in 300 AD. [read the complete article]

Speech on Campus

Contributor: American Civil Liberties Union
 
The First Amendment to the Constitution protects speech no matter how offensive its content. Restrictions on speech by public colleges and universities amount to government censorship, in violation of the Constitution. Such restrictions deprive students of their right to invite speech they wish to hear, debate speech with which they disagree, and protest speech they find bigoted or offensive. An open society depends on liberal education, and the whole enterprise of liberal education is founded on the principle of free speech. [read the complete article]

 

Disinvitation Database-- The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) documents attempts to "disinvite" or censor public speakers from the campuses of public and private American colleges/universities.

Academic Freedom of Students and Professors, and Political Discrimination-- What follows is a brief overview of the principles and the law shaping faculty and student claims to academic freedom and free speech in the college and university classroom. This paper will also address issues of so-called “political discrimination” in the judicial and legislative fora, such as those asserted in the Academic Bill of Rights.

College Student Surveys Regarding the First Amendment