Rutherford County faces heated debate over school book bans as 150 more books are pulled from library shelves

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – Friday night football games in Rutherford County have long brought together communities with proud traditions at schools like Riverdale High School. But a different kind of conflict is playing out off the field this fall; a divisive fight over whether certain books should be taken off library shelves.

Since February, the Rutherford County Board of Education has banned 35 books, including well-known young adult novels such as: Bad, the perks of Being a WallflowerAnd Dear By Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison. These books were available in high school libraries, but none were part of the district’s curriculum.

The book bans were initiated by board member Caleb Tidwell, who stated that the books were obscene under school board policy and the state’s obscenity laws.

The September board meeting was attended by people who support book bans, mostly from Tidwell church, and said the sexually explicit content was harmful to minors.

“Yes, we are trying to ban books that contain pornographic material,” one supporter said during public comments.

But not all board members agree. Butch Vaughn, a retired principal, was recently elected to the board. He grew up in Rutherford County, sent his children to public school there and expressed concern about what he called “political grandstanding.”

“I look at this sometimes as a battle between good and evil, and I will always be on the side of good,” Vaughn said. “It’s like they’re really making a mess, and I don’t think it should be an issue that divides us and prevents us from focusing on what’s really important.”

Vaughn, who attends the same church as Tidwell, worries about the consequences of the board’s actions and says he believes there is a small minority pushing for the books to be banned.

“This has created a lot of pain and division,” Vaughn said. “If you look at the number of times (banned books) have been checked in recent years, it is very few. I mean, it’s like they actually create dust in a lot of cases.”

Stan Vaught, another new board member and longtime community resident, shares Vaughn’s concerns and fears book bans are an inevitability.

“It reminds me a little bit of Germany in the 1930s, where if we take them out of our libraries, where do we take them out from now on?” he said. “I can’t and won’t tell other parents how to raise their children, it’s not my job.”

Over the summer, lawmakers revised state law, expanding the definition of obscenity and expanding the types of materials now banned from school libraries.

Starting in August, school districts across Tennessee struggled to interpret the law and implement the new requirements.

Despite the legal confusion that arose during its own board meetings, Rutherford County still went ahead and banned six more books under the law after Tidwell objected to their alleged “sexual content.”

“The law can and will be challenged, and I am confident it will not survive,” said Ken Paulson, director of the Center for Free Speech at Middle Tennessee State University. ‘And that’s because it takes the existing Supreme Court Rules and adds new things.’

When it comes to library materials, Paulson says the changes to the law are so far-reaching that any book containing sexual conduct or extreme violence is now banned in Tennessee.

“Never in American history has the Supreme Court or any federal court found that a book is obscene because it contains extreme violence,” Paulson said. “And the books banned in Rutherford County are not porn. And the idea that these were somehow written to capture the same audience Cheat The magazine is bullshit.”

Both Vaughn and Vaught worry the district is headed for a federal lawsuit that could cost the school district hundreds of thousands of dollars to defend.

“I don’t want my tax dollars, yours, or anyone else’s tax dollars going to defending a frivolous lawsuit when we could have prevented it,” Vaught said.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is reportedly considering legal action against the board, and the board voted earlier this fall to seek a letter of legal opinion from the State Attorney General on how to proceed under the new law.

But instead of waiting for that guidance, Tidwell suggested removing ten additional titles, and then on Monday board member Frances Rosales flagged another 150 titles under the obscenity law.

WSMV4 Investigates confirms that Principal James removed the new list of books from school libraries on Tuesday; These books also include novels. Catch-22 And A Clockwork Orange.

Vaught said he wishes the board could get back to other business and return to a time when parents were making decisions about the books their children read.

“We have hired experts to run these libraries. My personal belief is that we should submit to them. “If a parent doesn’t like a book, don’t let their child read it.”

Tidwell, who declined to be interviewed, made the following statement:

“Once awareness was raised in the community about the content in question, the vast majority of those who attended our meetings supported its removal. Community members who support the removal of the content come from different backgrounds, churches, schools, and yet they come to the same conclusion: This content is against the law. It is specifically discreet and legal. An education-oriented Attempts to hide behind the fear of a lawsuit for the possession of sexually explicit books in schools indicate inadequate understanding of the law or a deviation from duty.

“It is offensive to suggest that keeping sexually explicit books in school libraries has no harmful effects on minors and that these fictional books have educational value superior to sexual exposure.”

The school board will now have 60 days to review the removed books and decide whether they should return to library shelves or be permanently banned.

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