Last week, the South Carolina House of Representatives passed a budget that punitively cut the budgets of two colleges that had incorporated LGBT-themed books into elective reading programs. CBLDF has joined a coalition of free speech advocates to urge the…
Category: Legal
New Tax Plan Takes Aim at Violent Video Games
Censorship usually takes the form of the direct suppression of speech, but it seems that U.S. legislators are attempting new means of indirect censorship by using tax reform. Unsurprisingly, violent video games are the scapegoat that the Tax Reform Act…
Kansas Lawmakers Consider Bill that Would Enable Prosecution of Educators for “Offensive” Material
Lawmakers in the Kansas Senate are considering a draconian new bill that would make it easier to prosecute educators and other school officials for using “offensive” materials in classrooms and libraries. Senate Bill 401 was proposed in response to controversy…
CBLDF Joins Coalition Urging Supreme Court to Uphold Right to Bring First Amendment Challenges
This week, a coalition of free speech advocates, media organizations, booksellers, librarians, and publishers — including CBLDF and Dark Horse Comics — submitted an amicus brief (friend-of-the-court brief) in Susan B. Anthony List v. Driehaus. The brief urges the United…
Bechdel, SC Residents Respond to Punitive Proposed Funding Cuts
Last week, a South Carolina House of Representatives committee approved a punitive funding cut for the College of Charleston because the school selected Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home for an optional summer reading program. Now, both the author and regular South…
CBLDF Joins Coalition Defending The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian (Again)
It’s a miracle if a week goes by without a challenge to Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Unfortunately, the novel has been challenged once again, this time in Sweet Home, Oregon. CBLDF has joined the…
The Lost Comics Code of Australia
The Comics Code Authority highlights one of the darkest periods of comic book history. As a direct result of criticism from the Senate, the Code was implemented by the comics industry, leading to years of self-censorship in an attempt to…
Ecuadorean Cartoonist May Face Trial for Insulting President
Some troubling media regulations that were passed in Ecuador last year are apparently being employed against political cartoonist Xavier Bonilla, who may face trial over a panel that ran in the newspaper El Universo and offended President Rafael Correa. Bonilla…
NY District Court Upholds Government’s Right to Search Laptops at the Border
In 2010, a graduate student named Pascal Abidor was traveling from Canada to New York when he was removed from his train and detained by American border agents. In addition to being handcuffed and questioned, his laptop was also seized.…
Last Chance To Protect The Freedom To Read Comics!
Today is the last day to contribute to Comic Book Legal Defense Fund in 2013. If you’ve already contributed to CBLDF this year, we thank you – you’re making our work possible. If you haven’t yet made a contribution, we…