9NEWS.COM
Will Ripley | July 21, 2011

Pornography is not something you’d expect to find at the public library. But in Jefferson County, adults are allowed to watch X-rated content on library computers.

Some parents are now questioning that policy. 9NEWS received two news tips in two weeks from different parents concerned about their children being inadvertently exposed to pornography.

Library officials insist they are only following the law.

In the adult section of Jeffco libraries, it’s OK to watch porn on computers as long as you use a privacy screen.

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THE BALTIMORE SUN
Justin Fenton | July 15, 2011

A Maryland prison has banned a book written by an inmate serving a life sentence, citing “security reasons.”

In a memo circulating the Internet, the warden of the Maryland Correctional Training Center in Hagerstown said that “Marshall Law – The Life & Times of a Baltimore Black Panther” the autobiography of inmate Marshall “Eddie” Conway was being banned and should be “confiscated and disposed of … at the inmate’s expense” if found. Prison officials confirmed the authenticity of the memo.

David Rocah, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, called the book ban “flagrantly unconstitutional.”

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THE DAILY PROGRESS
Aaron Richardson | July 18, 2011

Albemarle County Public Schools may soon remove Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “A Study in Scarlet” from sixth-grade reading lists.

The board will vote on whether to remove the book at its regular meeting tonight. Though the book could be removed from class reading lists and the required curriculum, it would still be available in school libraries.

A parent asked that the book be removed from reading lists because, he says, it casts Mormonism in a negative light. After reviewing the work, a School Board-appointed committee determined that it wasn’t age-appropriate for sixth-graders. According to the parent’s complaint, the book repeatedly refers to Mormons as violent and intolerant, and accuses them of murders and kidnappings.

“When you look at the work, the basic question is, if someone says it shows a lot of cultural or religious bias, you have to look and see if that work has enough value to where the regard for the work outweighs the cultural bias,” county schools Secondary Education Director Matt Haas said.

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See also:
School Board likely to remove challenged book (NEWSPLEX.com | Carter Johnson, June 28, 20110

Committee member explains decision on controversial book (NEWSPLEX.com | Chris Stover, July 7, 2011)

Board delays decision on controversial book (NEWSPLEX.com | Jessica Jaglois, July 15, 2011)

School board delays vote on challenged book (106.1 FM–THE CORNER)
Text:The Albemarle School Board has deferred its vote on a parent’s challenge that involves a book at Henley Middle School. The county got complaints about the way Sir Arthur Conan Doyle characterized Mormons in his 1887 book “A Study in Scarlet.” The board heard Thursday night from Tim Dodson, who just completed the 8th-grade at Henley. He liked “A Study In Scarlet”, and views the book that introduced the world to Sherlock Holmes as a classic. The board expects to vote on August 11th.

DAILY HERALD
James Fuller | July 17, 2011

A school textbook that’s received national criticism by conservatives is now also taking heat in St. Charles Unit District 303.

Jennifer Nazlian discovered her daughter was using the “Social Studies Alive!” text in her third-grade classroom. While thumbing through it one night, she found herself filled with some of the same disdain for the messages it contained as conservative icon Glenn Beck.

Beck slammed the book in April when it first raised the ire of parents in Frederick County, Md. Parents there asked the school board to ban the book in the belief that it contains liberal propaganda about health care, labor and child care. The book contains descriptions of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska. There’s also a passage about child care being important, but so costly that some families can’t afford it and still pay for food and health care. The passage goes on to say some countries, like Vietnam, provide child care as a public service.

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