Minnesota: St. Francis Schools Sued Over Controversial Book Ban Policy as Students Stage Walkout

As high schoolers clutching books staged a walkout Monday, parents filed suit against St. Francis Area Schools alleging the district unlawfully bans books based on the ideas or stories they contain.

The suit was filed on behalf of eight students in Anoka County District Court on Monday, followed by a similar lawsuit on behalf of other students filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Minnesota.

Last fall, the northwestern Anoka County school district voted to update its library materials policy to primarily use ratings from the anonymous reviewer website BookLooks.org, which seeks to warn parents of “objectionable content” in books.

BookLooks is associated with a former member of the influential conservative parental rights group Moms for Liberty.