Featured FEN Organizations
February 8th, 2013
YALSA Announces Great Graphic Novels for 2013
The Young Adult Library Services Association’s latest annual list of Great Graphic Novels is out! Books are nominated for inclusion on the list by members of YALSA, a division of the American Library Association, and then voted on by a committee made up of school and public librarians from across the United States. The books on the list are judged to exemplify “both good quality literature and appealing reading for teens.” From the long list of 55 titles, committee members also selected their top ten “titles that exemplify the quality and range of graphic novels appropriate for teen audiences.” And here’s the top ten list:
Non-Fiction
My Friend Dahmer by Derf Backderf
Go to high school with the nation’s most notorious serial killer.
Trinity: A Graphic History of the First Atomic Bomb by Jonathan Fetter-Vorm
A look at one of the most controversial decisions in American history.
Annie Sullivan and the Trials of Helen Keller by Joseph Lambert
You thought you knew the whole story.
Fiction
Ultimate Comics Spider-man, Vol. 1 by Brian Michael Bendis and Sara Pichelli
Witness the birth of a new Spider-man Miles Morales.
Friends with Boys by Faith Erin Hicks
From homeschool to high school, ...
February 8th, 2013
Civil liberties attorney Marjorie Heins, founding director of the Free Expression Policy Project, has authored what is sure to be a worthwhile book on academic freedom and its past and present threats. The book, Priests of Our Democracy: The Supreme Court, Academic Freedom, and the Anti-Communist Purge, is out now from the New York University Press.
In a column in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Heins discusses some of the main themes of her book, including the background of the landmark Supreme Court decision in Keyishian v. Board of Regents (1967), which invalidated an anti-communist loyalty oath required of faculty in the State University of New York system. Heins also discusses more recent threats to the academic freedom protections Keyishian affirmed, especially from the Court’s controversial (and much opposed by FIRE) decision in Garcetti v. Ceballos (2006), which, as Heins notes, ruled “that statements [made by public employees] made ‘pursuant to their official duties’ can be subject to discipline without violating the Constitution.”
Heins identifies speech codes as another threat to academic freedom, highlighting one of FIRE’s hallmark cases, the shocking (and still unresolved) case of Donald Hindley at Brandeis University:
Whatever the fate of academic freedom ...
February 8th, 2013
Congressional Task Force Recommends More Research on Media and Violence
Yesterday, Congressman Mike Thompson (D-CA) released “A Comprehensive Plan That Reduces Gun Violence and Respects the 2nd Amendment Rights of Law-Abiding Americans,” which describes the recommendations of the Congressional Gun Violence Prevention Task Force. Nearly all of the recommendations the task force made pertain to guns, mental health, and school safety. However, the last recommendation pertains to violence in the media:
Address our culture’s glorification of violence seen and heard though our movie screens,television shows, music and video games: Congress should fund scientific research on the relationship between popular culture and gun violence, while ensuring that parents have access to the information they need to make informed decisions about what their families watch, listen to, and play.
In discussing the above point in more detail, the task force acknowledges that the current research does not support a link between violent media and violent behavior. Regardless, it advocates for further scientific research:
Many Americans are concerned that television programs, movies, video games and other forms of media are starting to desensitize young Americans to violence, specifically gun violence, at a very early age. While we have a shared responsibility in this area, it is essential that parents, educators, and our communities at ...
February 7th, 2013
‘The Eastern Progress’ Reports on EKU’s New Green Light Status
Monday, FIRE announced that it had added Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) to its exclusive list of 16 colleges and universities whose policies do not unduly burden free speech (or "green light" schools, if you prefer something shorter).
Today, EKU's student newspaper, The Eastern Progress, reports on the school's brand new green light rating and quotes FIRE's Director of Speech Code Research Samantha Harris.
Be sure to check out the full article on The Eastern Progress' website!
February 7th, 2013
One consequence of the recent gun violence tragedies in the United States is increased scrutiny of video games, films, and other media with violent content held in library collections. As a result, libraries are now receiving requests to remove or restrict access to these materials. The discussion points below provide an intellectual freedom framework for talking about the issue of violent video games and violence in media with library trustees, staff, and library users. Resources listed below the discussion points provide more detailed information and analysis about violent media and intellectual freedom.
Discussion points:
• Like literature and film, video games are a creative and expressive medium that entertains, educates, and tells a story. Many libraries collect and lend video games to their users and host video game festivals and contests just as they host book discussions and film festivals.
• The courts of law that have examined the legal status of video games have ruled that video games are a form of speech protected by the First Amendment. These courts have also ruled that laws restricting minors’ access to video games that are violent or are rated “Mature” are a form of censorship that violates minors’ First Amendment ...
February 7th, 2013
Students Admit to Vandalism at DePaul University
Just two weeks after we first reported news of student vandalism at DePaul University, school officials have concluded their investigation and released a report on the students involved. As Torch readers may recall, the controversy first began when the campus chapter of Young Americans for Freedom erected a pro-life display consisting of 500 small blue and pink flags to mark the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Rather than engage in a debate with their fellow students, several individuals tore up the display and tossed the flags into nearby trash cans. According to the school's report, the named students
had seen anti-abortion posters around campus earlier in the day that they found offensive. They had an emotional discussion prior to class, and after class they all walked out to the quad together. They then started pulling up all the flags and put them in garbage cans and carried some off to their next class.
Such a reaction is all too common on campus today, as more and more students are bamboozled into believing that the destruction of another's expression is a permissible—even noble—action. But as FIRE's Peter Bonilla pointed out in his coverage of the incident, "Suppressing another ...
February 7th, 2013
Join the Team Today! Be a Free Speech Fighter!
Join the CBLDF team in 2013, and show your pride by sporting some members-only apparel! With art by the legendary Jaime Hernandez, the only way to get these awesome shirts is by becoming a CBLDF Member today!
Last month, we launched our 2013 Membership Program, and previewed a few of the exclusive premiums that Members will receive in 2013.
Since then, we’ve gotten a better look at the awesome shirts that have started shipping out to supporters, and we wanted to show off the apparel end of our Member premiums.
The FREE SPEECH FIGHTER raglan sleeve, jersey style tee comes in men’s and women’s sizes. This shirt comes with the standard Membership. Printed on high quality, brand name shirts, it reads “COMIC BOOK LEGAL DEFENSE FUND MEMBER 2013″ across the bottom and will be available to all members joining at the $100 level throughout the year.
The FREE SPEECH FIGHTER Hooded Pullover Sweatshirt comes with all Memberships starting at $250 or up ($500 and $1000). (There is an option for a classy, embroidered, polo-style shirt as well starting at the $500 level.) These sweatshirts are cozy as the dickens, and available in limited quantities to Members ...
February 7th, 2013
FAA Releases New Drone List—Is Your Town on the Map?
View EFF's updated Map of Domestic Drone Authorizations in a larger window. (Clicking this link will serve content from Google.)
The Federal Aviation Administration has finally released a new drone authorization list. This list, released in response to EFF’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit, includes law enforcement agencies and universities across the country, and—for the first time—an Indian tribal agency. In all, the list includes more than 20 new entities over the FAA’s original list, bringing to 81 the total number of public entities that have applied for FAA drone authorizations through October 2012.
Some of these new drone license applicants include:
- The State Department
- National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
- Barona Band of Mission Indians Risk Management Office (near San Diego, California)
- Canyon County Sheriff’s Office (Idaho)
- Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office (Northwest Oregon)
- Grand Forks Sheriff’s Department (North Dakota)
- King County Sheriff’s Office (covering Seattle, Washington)
And several new entities in Ohio, including:
- Medina County Sheriff’s Office
- Ohio Department of Transportation
- Sinclair Community College
- Lorain County Community College
The list comes amid extensive controversy over a newly-released memo documenting the CIA’s policy on the targeted killing of American citizens and on the heels of ...
February 7th, 2013
Kids’ Right to Read Project Defends Books in Washington School District
Earlier this week, the Kids’ Right to Read Project, which is sponsored by CBLDF, sent a letter to the Prosser School District outside Yakima, Washington, in defense of A Child Called “It” and The Popularity Papers. Both books had been challenged as inappropriate by a high school social studies teacher in the district.
A Child Called “It” is a best-selling autobiographical account by David Pelzer that describes his survival of childhood abuse by his alcoholic mother. The book already requires parental permission for seventh and eighth grade students to check it out. On Wednesday, a nine-member review panel voted to retain the book. The Tri-City Herald reports that the book was retained because “it depicts something older children need to learn about, can be inspirational and could motivate children to seek help if they need it.”
The Popularity Papers, by Amy Ignatow, is an award-winning series aimed at fourth through sixth graders that follows the friendship of two girls as they navigate junior high school. The series deals with bullying and the social heirarchy of teens. Like A Child Called “It,” The Popularity Papers is under restricted access and only available to fifth graders in the district. The ...
February 7th, 2013
Facing Down A Copyright Troll in Federal Appeals Court
Copyright troll Righthaven LLC just doesn’t know when to stay down. Faced with six district court judges determining it didn't have the right to sue people over copyrights it didn't own, it turned to a higher power: the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Yesterday, EFF appeared before that court to argue (audio) against Righthaven on behalf of Tad DiBiase, a criminal justice blogger who provides resources for difficult-to-prosecute "no body" murder cases and was one of Righthaven’s victims.
The leading issue on appeal was whether a newspaper could transfer the right to sue for copyright infringement to a copyright troll, while retaining all other rights in the newspaper articles. Under the Copyright Act, only the "owner of an exclusive right under a copyright is entitled ... to institute an action for any infringement of that particular right committed while he or she is the owner of it." In a previous case, the Ninth Circuit explained that the "Copyright Act does not permit copyright holders to choose third parties to bring suits on their behalf." Nevertheless, Righthaven insisted that it was entitled to sue because it claimed ownership of the copyright for an instant, before immediately returning the rights to the newspaper publisher. A secret agreement between Righthaven and Stephens Media ensured that the ...