FT 16.05 - Free Minds Act (AWAITING ADVOCACY)

[OBD]

AN ACT
to censor censorship

Section 1 (Title)
i. The title of this Act shall be, the "Free Minds Act."

Section 2 (Ban on bans)
i. No state or territory, municipality, school board, or other authority may ban any title or other work, in whole or in part, from any school or public library.
ii. No teacher may be dismissed or otherwise disciplined for teaching or assigning readings from a particular work, including films and other visual media.

Sponsor: FM Harry S. Truman (Fianna Fremont - Labor, North Dakota)

Go ahead.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

My thanks to the speaker.

There is no liberty more essential to the survival of a free state, and none which infringed will sooner effect the collapse of peace and public order, than the right of every inhabitant to speak their mind freely and without fear. We have seen the deleterious effects which censorship wreaks on republican society —in Nazi Germany, in Communist North Korea, in Islamist Iran, and indeed in our own country, where censorship was the backbone of slavery, of Jim Crow, of the Red Scare, and every successive attempt by established and aspiring authoritarians to crush dissent and extend their foul rule through the propagation of fear and ignorance. In our present day, the advocates for censorship have argued we have an obligation to protect our public, and in particular our children, from degenerate ideas. This is a lie. Ignorance is not safety, and the absence of dissent is not peace.

This legislation would end the ability of states, municipalities, school boards, and other authorities from restricting the free flow of ideas by placing a blanket ban on all bans —of books, poems, films, journals, or any other work. Such bans are —dare I say without exception —the work of prudes or reactionaries who want to bury ideas they object to, but can't argue against; they are most commonly employed to hobble our public school system by prohibiting teachers from introducing students to ideas different from those of the career bureaucrats and helicopter parents writing the regulations. They don't protect our students, and they certainly don't protect our society. Banning Huckleberry Finn because it's characters make liberal use of the "n" word won't prevent our youth from hearing that word, for instance, but it will prevent them from having a thoughtful discussion of racism and racist language in a rigorous, fact-checked academic setting.

Because I'm sure it will be raised by someone, nobody —literally nobody —is suggesting we should teach Fifty Shades of Grey to elementary school students. I defy you to produce one example where any teacher attempted to do so. Bans for "pornographic content" rarely if ever ban actual pornography, but instead target works which acknowledge (or even suggest) that sex happens —a list of titles that includes most of Shakespeare among other classic works of literature, I might add. We need to trust our educators —the highly-trained professionals we pay to teach English, history, science, and art —to make decisions about what titles to teach and how to teach them, instead of having a bunch of blue-bloods arbitrarily banning the Holy Bible because they talk about foreskins.

It's time to end censorship in our schools and libraries. Montag, shut off the hose.

[Mike Thick]

No objection here.

[OBD]

I feel like there should be a 'within reason' clause so disgruntled teachers don't go completely off the rails, though the spirit of clause (ii) is sound and I'd support it as written. However, I don't see how clause (i) rocks the boat at all, as schools can just choose not to stock books with sex scenes instead of banning them.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

I feel like there should be a 'within reason' clause so disgruntled teachers don't go completely off the rails, though the spirit of clause (ii) is sound and I'd support it as written.

This scenario seems so unlikely that I'm hesitant to add language that could be used as a loophole to subvert the intent of this bill. Presumably if a teacher has truly gone off the rails, they'll have done something besides assign questionable material that is grounds for dismissal.

However, I don't see how clause (i) rocks the boat at all, as schools can just choose not to stock books with sex scenes instead of banning them.

Well, quite. The point is not that schools should be required to stock porn; it is that the decision of what is and is not age-appropriate should be a decision for teachers and librarians, not politicians.

[OBD]

I feel like there should be a 'within reason' clause so disgruntled teachers don't go completely off the rails, though the spirit of clause (ii) is sound and I'd support it as written.

This scenario seems so unlikely that I'm hesitant to add language that could be used as a loophole to subvert the intent of this bill. Presumably if a teacher has truly gone off the rails, they'll have done something besides assign questionable material that is grounds for dismissal.

However, I don't see how clause (i) rocks the boat at all, as schools can just choose not to stock books with sex scenes instead of banning them.

Well, quite. The point is not that schools should be required to stock porn; it is that the decision of what is and is not age-appropriate should be a decision for teachers and librarians, not politicians.

Fair enough. I was already willing to support the bill as written, just had a few concerns to get out of the way.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

I move for a vote, then.

[OBD]

Sure. Vote opened. 48 hours.

Aye.

[Mike Thick]

Aye.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Aye.

[Tirnam]

Aye

[OBD]

Free Minds Act
Frémont Parliament Bill 16.05 - Sponsored by Harry S. Truman, FM

	LAB	IND	TOTAL
Aye	4	0	4
Nay	0	0	0
Abstain	0	0	0
Not Present	0	1	1

	FF	FG	ML	SF	TOTAL
Aye	2	1	0	1	4
Nay	0	0	0	0	0
Abstain	0	0	0	0	0
Not Present	0	0	1	0	1

First Minister HARRY S TRUMAN of North Dakota (LAB/FF)
Mr. AUSTRALIANSWINGVOTER of Washington (IND/ML)
Mr. TIRNAM of California (LAB/FF)
Mr. TED BESSELL of California (LAB/FG)
Mr. OREGON BLUE DOG of Oregon (LAB/SF)

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

AN ACT
to censor censorship

Section 1 (Title)
i. The title of this Act shall be, the "Free Minds Act."

Section 2 (Ban on bans)
i. No state or territory, municipality, school board, or other authority may ban any title or other work, in whole or in part, from any school or public library.
ii. No teacher may be dismissed or otherwise disciplined for teaching or assigning readings from a particular work, including films and other visual media.

[AustralianSwingVoter]

Aye ftr