Orlando, Florida — On 16-year-old Jack Hayes’ bookshelf you’ll find books that may no longer be available in some Florida classrooms, such as the Kurt Vonnegut classic “Slaughterhouse-Five.”
His mother, Judi Hayes, said the 2023 Florida law restricting certain books in school libraries is hurting Jack’s ability to learn.
“We’re not talking about Playboy magazine, you know, we’re talking about ‘Anna Karenina’ and ‘War and Peace,'” Judi Hayes told CBS News.
The Hayes are part of a federal lawsuit filed Thursday by Penguin Random House, other publishers and some authors that argues the law “violates the First Amendment” and has created “a regime of strict censorship” in schools.
Under the law, any Florida resident can challenge books in a school or classroom library in their county over sexual content. Once challenged, that book “must be removed within 5 school days…and remain unavailable until the objection is resolved,” the law reads.
Classics that have been pulled as a result of the law include Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” and Ernest Hemingway’s “For Whom the Bell Tolls.”
According to a report released in April by Pen America, a free speech organization, between July 2021 and December 2023, Florida had 3,135 book bans recorded across 11 districts, the highest of any state in the nation during that span.
“It is not protecting children when it comes to books like mine,” said author Laurie Halse Anderson, whose book “Speak,” which is about sexual assault, was also removed.
“Parents can say, ‘No, I don’t want my child to read that,'” Anderson said. “…That’s their choice for their kid. But what they don’t have the right to do is decide for other people’s children.”
The lawsuit names the Florida Board of Education as a defendant.
“This is a stunt,” Florida Department of Education spokesperson Sydney Booker said in a statement to CBS News. “There are no books banned in Florida. Sexually explicit material and instruction are not suitable for schools.”
Not named is Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who championed the law.
“The media, they try to say that this is, quote, banning books, but what you have in a school, you have to make judgements about what’s appropriate or not,” DeSantis said.
Jack believes politics should not play a role in his education.
“If a student wants to read, they should be able to read that book,” he said.
