Tray v. Florida State Board of Education

  • Latest Update: Jan 01, 2025
ACLU-books

Summary

In June 2024, the ACLU of Florida and partners filed a lawsuit representing parents of Florida public school students who sued the DeSantis administration’s Board of Education for violating their First Amendment rights through the implementation of 2023’s HB 1069.

The lawsuit argues that HB 1069 discriminates against parents who oppose book bans and censorship. It gives parents who favor censorship a formal process to challenge a local school board’s decision to keep a book on school shelves, while parents opposed to censorship are excluded from the process altogether. The plaintiffs, parents of students in Florida public schools, are seeking review of their local school boards’ decisions to remove or restrict books in their children's school districts and do not have access to seek that review.

WHAT'S AT STAKE

H.B. 1069 restricts what “instructional materials,” particularly books, are allowed to be a part of the curriculum for Florida’s students in grades K-12. The law requires schools to create and communicate clear procedures for parents to object to the use of a book, but does not clarify how parents may advocate to keep a book in the curriculum. This lawsuit seeks to protect parents’ First Amendment right to advocate for freedom of expression in Florida’s public schools.

The Latest: In January 2025, the court granted the state’s motion to dismiss the case. We appealed the decision, and oral argument was held in the Eleventh Circuit in February 2026. We await a decision.