Attorney General Alan Wilson fights to keep inappropriate material out of public schools

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) – Today, Attorney General Alan Wilson joined a 21-state coalition supporting a Florida law that ensures public school libraries are not providing sexually graphic materials to their young students.

The prevailing question that the case raises is whether the First Amendment allows states and local entities to remove graphic materials from the shelves of public schools.

“The First Amendment does not compel public school libraries to stock their shelves with books containing graphic sexual material,” Attorney General Wilson said. “In fact, public school libraries should do all they can to protect their students from exposure to inappropriate material.”

“Reversing the lower court’s decision ensures parents continue to trust our education system,” Wilson continued. “And it would also keep the content of these libraries in the hands of democratically elected state and local officials.”

South Carolina joined the attorneys general of Arkansas, Alabama, Alaska, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia in the friend-of-the-court brief.

You can read the brief here.