North Dakota First Amendment Defense Group

We are all concerned with creating positive, safe, and welcoming environments for our children. But going after public libraries and schools means that this isn't about kids. It's about a small group of people controlling what all North Dakotas are able to read or see. Only 8% of voters in the US think that there are "many books that are inappropriate and should be banned". It is a small group of people pushing for these kinds of bills and book bans around the country. They talk about books about sex and sexuality, but award-winning authors like Margaret Atwood, F. Scott Fitzgerald, or even James Joyce could be caught in the crosshairs of ‘obscenity’ challenges too. Even Winnie the Pooh was called into question for not wearing pants. Our local library and school boards are accountable to the communities they serve, and those are the right venues to address book challenges, not a top-down obscenity law from the legislature. We can’t let a bill like HB1205 expose every school, library,and the public servants who work in them, to criminal prosecution to satisfy a few crusaders. It's not a reasonable thing to make criminals out of our librarians and educators. Please join the citizens of North Dakota in opposing HB1205 now. The bill is being heard in the House Judiciary Committee. Please take a moment and tell your Representative in the North Dakota House to help stop this bill before it goes any further. Use the form on this page to send your message today.