"A federal judge in Alexandria, Virginia, has ordered the Pentagon to restore nearly 600 books and reinstate lessons on race, gender, and identity in schools serving military families, ruling that the Trump administration's restrictions on classroom content likely violated students' First Amendment rights. In a 44-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles concluded that the Department of Defense Education Activity removed books and altered curricula in ways that suppressed certain viewpoints and deprived students of access to ideas about race and gender."
"She found that the department's actions caused real harm and were likely motivated by viewpoint discrimination. The ruling requires the Pentagon to immediately return the banned books and halt further removals while the case continues. The case, E.K. v. Department of Defense Education Activity, was brought by 12 students from military families at DoDEA schools in Virginia, Kentucky, Italy, and Japan."
"Giles wrote that public school libraries are "loci of intellectual freedom," quoting the Supreme Court's 1982 decision in Board of Education v. Pico to emphasize that students must be free to "inquire, to study and to evaluate, to gain new maturity and understanding." She found that DoDEA's process for removing books was opaque and inconsistent, noting that officials failed to provide clear records of which titles had been withdrawn or why."
A federal court found that the Department of Defense Education Activity removed nearly 600 books and altered curricula in ways that suppressed viewpoints and deprived students of ideas about race and gender. The court identified likely viewpoint discrimination and harmful effects, and ordered immediate restoration of the removed books and a halt to further removals while litigation proceeds. The lawsuit was filed by 12 students from DoDEA schools across multiple states and countries and was brought with support from civil liberties organizations challenging enforcement of executive orders targeting “gender ideology” and “divisive equity concepts.” The court emphasized public school libraries as loci of intellectual freedom and criticized opaque removal procedures.
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