Dohle Book Defense Fund Established to Combat Rising Threats to Free Speech and Open Discourse
The Dohle Book Defense Fund will boost PEN America’s initiatives to educate the public, partner with local community groups to advocate against censorship, track and expose the egregious assaults on… More
Open Letter to the School Board of the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District
PEN America urges the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District not to pass the “Resolution Opposing the Teaching of Critical Race Theory.” More
The PEN Pod: A Reflection on Free Speech in 2021 with Suzanne Nossel
“Perhaps never before in our public discourse. . . has there been a moment where issues of free expression. . . have been more salient to our politics.” More
Texas Governor Invokes ‘Pornography’ to Ban Books, Threaten Criminal Action Against Librarians and Teachers
PEN America condemns the governor’s actions as a politically-motivated exercise in censorship and intimidation that threatens to ban books and criminalize teachers and librarians doing their job. More
The PEN Pod: On Protesting Book Bans with the Students of York, PA
“We saw. . . what was happening at our school and we wanted to take immediate action. . . . Because we knew we had to do it.” More
The PEN Pod: On Writer-to-Writer Solidarity and the Rise of Book Bans with Suzanne Nossel
“For us, at PEN, doing a lot of work on press freedom issues. . . it’s a reminder of what we’re fighting for.” More
A Texas Book Ban is an Attack on the Freedom to Learn
Months after the Leander Independent School District banned books and graphic novels from its secondary school curriculum, the district released decisions on an additional set of titles. More
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PEN America On 
"When local Nebraska police came knocking in June, before Roe v Wade was officially overturned... private messages between (a 17-yo & her mother) discussing how to obtain abortion pills were given to police... The teenager is now being tried as an adult." https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/aug/10/facebook-user-data-abortion-nebraska-police
"Like most Americans, you might believe books have a settled status in our culture—that even if they contain sexual material, they’re protected by the #FirstAmendment," writes @dankois.
Now, Republicans in VA are asking a judge to change US obscenity law. https://slate.com/culture/2022/08/book-banning-republicans-gender-queer-obscenity-supreme-court.html
“When we read these books... everyone is in agreement that (they) are very educational and should be allowed in our classrooms,” says Vandegrift High School Banned Book Club co-founder Alyssa Hoy. "They start very tough conversations that need to be had.” https://nextcity.org/urbanist-news/how-teens-are-pushing-back-on-book-bans
