The American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado today joined ACLU affiliates across the country in marking the annual observance of Banned Books Week. Banned Books Week is observed annually at the end of September to celebrate the First Amendment and draw attention to the censorship of literature in public schools.

This year, the American Association of School Librarians has also designated Sept. 28 to highlight the dangers of software filters that block access to educational websites in schools.

To educate students and adults alike, the ACLU of Colorado posted a crossword puzzle on its website which chronicles attempts nationwide to ban literature and expression. “We observe Banned Books Week not only as a celebration of artistic expression and the freedom to read, but also to remind all Coloradans that the threat of censorship is still very real,” said John Krieger, ACLU of Colorado Communications and Outreach Director.

The American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom tracks books that have been challenged, often by parents of students, to be removed from a public or school library. Classic books such as Brave New World and The Catcher in the Rye, and newer titles, such as the Gossip Girl series and Twilight have been on "challenged" lists for reasons including explicit language, sexual content and violence.

A related issue is software filters, which schools have used to block LGBT content. That violates First Amendment rights to free speech and the Equal Access Act, which requires equal access to school resources for all extracurricular clubs. This year, the ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Project brought attention to software filtering through the Don’t Filter Me initiative. The campaign was started after the ACLU received complaints that schools were allowing access to anti-gay sites while simultaneously blocking access to LGBT websites and resources such as the Gay-Straight Alliance Network, and Parents, Friends and Family of Lesbians and Gays.

“Just as schools can't remove books from the library that support LGBT people and their legal rights, schools also cannot use discriminatory web-filtering software that prevents students from accessing supportive websites,” said Joshua Block, staff attorney with the ACLU LGBT Project.

Several schools and software companies agreed to change their settings in response to the initiative, though a lawsuit was recently filed against a school district in Camdenton, Mo., that refused to change its settings.

More information on Banned Books Week can be found at: www.bannedbooksweek.org

Test your Constution IQ!

Word Bank:

Republican, constitutional, Article I, judicial, Articles of Confederation, Declaration of Independence, republican, president, executive, establishment clause, senate, balancing powers/checking powers, delegated powers, equal protection of the laws, Bill of Rights, making laws, John Locke, legislative, Article II, house of representatives, freedom of expression, natural rights, Great Compromise
(Some words/phrases may be used more than once, answers at bottom of page)

1) The Founders Fathers of America believed that life, liberty, and property were _________________.

2) ________________was an Englishman who lived from 1632 to 1704. He wrote about the importance of natural rights as a way of protecting the rights of people.

3) A __________________ is a government where people hold the power of government, the people give power to leaders they elect to represent them and to serve their interests, and the representatives are responsible for helping all the people in the country, not just the few.

4) A _____________________government means that there are limits on the powers of government.

5) Thomas Jefferson wrote the ___________________________ which provides basic ideas about people and government; reasons why the Founders thought they had the right to be free from British rule, and included complaints against the British king.

6) After 1776, the new state governments included ideas about ______________________rights , a _____________________ government, and a _________________________ government.

7) The states _________________________ included the rights of citizens. Some of these are the right to vote in free and frequent elections, freedom of speech and of the press, representation on tax matters, have a lawyer if accused of a crime, trial by jury, protection from illegal search and seizure, and protections from cruel and unusual punishment.

8) The first plan of government for the United States was the ____________________________ . Under this plan the power of the government was weak, it did not have money or the authority to get it, and there were no courts to settle disputes among the states.

9) The _______________________ solved the problem of providing equal representation in the government.

10) Each state would have two representatives in the _________________; in the ___________________the number of representatives from each state would be based on the number of people living in that state.

11) The power to make laws belongs to the ___________________________branch of government.

12) The power to carry out and enforce the laws made by Congress belongs to the ______________________branch of government.

13) The branch that settles disagreements about what laws mean is the ____________________ branch.

14) _____________________________ divides the power of the branches among the government and __________________________________ means that no one government can completely control the other branches.

15) The powers of Congress include: passing laws, taxing the people, raising an army and navy to defend our nations, declaring war, creating a court system, and coining money. They are part of __________________ of the Constitution.

16) Writing a bill, going to committee, getting a majority vote of Congress, and getting the president to approve the bill are part of the process of _____________________________.

17) __________________________ of the Constitution lists the duties and powers of the president.

18) The __________________________ acts as the commander in chief of the armed forces, makes treaties, appoints ambassadors, appoints judges, grants pardons for crimes against the United States, acts as the head of the executive branch, suggest laws and policies, and sets policies for dealing with other countries in the world.

19) The Department of State, the Department of the Treasury, the Department of War (now called Defense), and the Attorney General are advisors to the __________________________ .

20) Article III of the Constitution describes the responsibilities and powers of the ____________________ branch of the national government. This is comprised of the Supreme Court and of lower courts.

21) Powers given to the national government, state governments, national and state governments, and by the people are called _____________________________ .

22) The _________________________________, added in 1791, is the name of the first ten amendments to the Constitution. Many of the amendments give rights to people who were not given these rights in the original Constitution.

23) The First Amendment includes freedom of speech, press, assembly, and petition and is all part of ______________________________.

24) The _____________________________ clause says that Congress may not establish an official religion for our country or favor any one religion over others.

25) After the Civil War, the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments were added to the Constitution to end slavery and give former slaves the same rights as other people and to stop state governments from unfairly discriminating against African Americans. The 14th Amendment includes the concept of __________________________ and means that state governments must not treat people differently unless there is a good and fair reason for doing so.

Answers:
1) Natural rights
2) John Locke
3) Republican
4) Constitutional
5) Declaration of Independence
6) Natural, republican, and constitutional 
7) Bill of rights
8) Articles of Confederation
9) Great Compromise
10) Senate; House of Representatives
11) Legislative
12) Executive
13) Judicial
14) Balancing powers/checking powers
15) Article I
16) Making laws
17) Article II
18) President
19) President
20) Judicial
21) Delegated powers
22) Bill of Rights
23) Freedom of Expression
24) Establishment 
25) Equal Protection of the Laws

August 22, 2013
DENVER – In a case brought by ACLU attorneys, a federal district court yesterday invalidated an Englewood ordinance that restricts where persons convicted of certain sex offenses can live, ruling that the ordinance violates the Colorado Constitution.
Englewood’s ordinance makes it a crime for persons convicted of certain sex offenses to live within 2000 feet of any school, park, or playground, or 1000 feet of any licensed day care center, recreation center or swimming pool, or any property located next to a bus stop, walk-to-school route, or recreational trail.
Judge R. Brooke Jackson ruled that the ordinance “leaves essentially no place for offenders to live” and pushes sex offenders into neighboring cities, causing an impermissible conflict with “the state interest in the uniform treatment, management, rehabilitation, and reintegration of sex offenders during and after state supervision.”
“Local ordinances that ban sex offenders from living in a particular community provide a false sense of security,” said Mark Silverstein, ACLU Legal Director. “As the State Sex Offender Management Board has noted, these ordinances don’t prevent sex offenses and they don’t increase safety. Instead, they make communities less safe by interfering with offenders’ efforts to reintegrate into safe, stable, and supportive environments. And when town after town enacts similar restrictions, it poses the risk that sex offenders are driven underground and disconnected from treatment and supervision.”
The Sex Offender Management Board (“SOMB”), which is charged by the state legislature with evaluating and treating sex offenders, has urged communities not to enact local residency restrictions because blanket restrictions cause offenders to drop out of the statewide registration system and prevent offenders from successfully reintegrating into society.
The ACLU’s lawsuit was filed on behalf of Brett Ryals, who was unaware of the ordinance when he bought a home in Englewood in 2012. Mr. Ryals had served a two-year sentence from a 2001 felony conviction and had completed state-mandated treatment, rehabilitation, and parole. When he attempted to comply with his legal obligation to register his new address, he was informed that he was not permitted to live in Englewood.
The ruling will likely impact other Colorado jurisdictions, including Greenwood Village, Castle Rock, Lone Tree, Commerce City and Greeley, that have adopted similar ordinances.
The ACLU legal team, led by ACLU Cooperating Attorney Dan Williams of Faegre Baker Daniels LLP, also included Jennifer Sullivan, Hetal Doshi, Shelby Myers, and ACLU Staff Attorney Sara Rich.

Learn more about this case.