Students' Rights

The ACLU works to protect students' right to read and learn free from viewpoint-based or partisan censorship.

students in classroom

For over a year now, we’ve seen state lawmakers introduce classroom censorship bills that restrict students and teachers from learning about race and gender in schools. Now, state officials and local school boards across the country are waging campaigns to remove books from schools that are by and about communities of color, LGBTQ people and other marginalized groups. We work in the courts, legislature, and community to ensure students are able to learn in an environment that is free from viewpoint-based or partisan censorship.

Students' Rights in the Courts

In April of 2023, ACLU of SC filed suit on behalf of NAACP and individual plaintiffs against Pickens County School District due to its politically and racially motivated removal of the book Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You from district classrooms, libraries, and media centers. The book was removed by the school board despite being reviewed by school and district-level panels who both unanimously agreed that the book is developmentally appropriate for junior English Language Arts classes.

Our lawsuit asks the court to declare that removing Stamped was unconstitutional and order its return to Pickens County school classrooms, libraries, and curriculums. We believe that students should be free to learn about the world around them without being hindered by politically motivated viewpoint-based censorship.

Read about NAACP v Pickens County

In the Legislature

The South Carolina General Assembly continues to attempt to enact classroom censorship legislation similar to the anti-CRT bills moving through legislatures across the state.

H. 3728, or the Transparency and Integrity in Education Act, is a bill that would prohibit specific discussions of race, gender, or sexual orientation and how they factor into the inequities that exist today. The bill subjects teachers and administrators to a burdensome complaint and investigation process, no matter how frivolous the complaint.

Classroom Censorship Legislation

In the Community

ACLU of SC works with advocates across the state to mobilize communities to resist classroom censorship legislation and oppose book bans.

We are proud members of ProTruth SC and Freedom to Read SC.

The Latest

News & Commentary
"Statehouse Dispatch: Feb. 2, 2026. This week under the copper dome." Background photo of the South Carolina Statehouse dome in pink and blue tints.

Statehouse Dispatch: Feb. 2, 2026

S.C. lawmakers keep attacking the rights of women, LGBTQ+ people, and students. We have some better ideas for them.
Podcast
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Episode 19: What’s Going On (In the Statehouse)?

South Carolina lawmakers started 2026 with a barrage of bills attacking our reproductive freedom, voting rights, free speech rights, and more. But even on the ugliest days of the legislative session, South Carolinians showed up, spoke out, and wrote in to their lawmakers demanding something better. How do we keep showing up for this work, and just as importantly, why? We get into it with advocacy director Courtney.
News & Commentary
"Statehouse Dispatch: Jan. 26, 2026." Background photo of the Statehouse dome tinted yellow and blue.

Statehouse Dispatch: Jan. 26, 2026

Our lawmakers want to dismantle the wall between church and state, take away our reproductive rights, and make life harder for trans youth
News & Commentary
"Statehouse Dispatch: Jan. 19, 2026. This Week Under the Copper Dome." Background photo of the Statehouse dome with a blue tint.

Statehouse Dispatch: Jan. 19, 2026

Free speech, voting rights, abortion, and trans rights are all on the line this week
Court Case
Oct 07, 2025

SCASL v. Weaver

In October 2025, South Carolina public school librarians and students filed a lawsuit asking a federal court to block enforcement of the state’s unconstitutional book banning regulation and a classroom censorship memo issued by the state education superintendent. The lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of Regulation 43-170, which bans all materials in kindergarten through 12th grade public schools if they contain descriptions or depictions of “sexual conduct.” This regulation, which was promoted by Superintendent Ellen Weaver and took effect in June 2024, led to the banning or restriction of 22 books statewide — the largest number of state-mandated school book bans in any state, according to PEN America. (See the full list of books below.) The lawsuit also challenges a memorandum issued by Superintendent Weaver on March 14, 2025, that requires state employees to indoctrinate students according to the superintendent’s views on sex, gender, race, and American exceptionalism. The memo prohibits 14 ideas and concepts from S.C. Department of Education materials, including “implicit bias,” “restorative justice,” “cisgender,” and “social-emotional learning,” although it notes that its list of taboo concepts is “not exhaustive.” The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are the South Carolina Association of School Librarians (SCASL) and three minor public school students. The suit challenges the superintendent’s censorship regime under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
Court Case
Apr 18, 2025

Ariwoola v. Noem

An international Ph.D. student at the University of South Carolina faces the threat of arrest and deportation as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has suddenly and unilaterally terminated his F-1 student status. We're suing to defend his due process rights.
Court Case
Sep 22, 2016

Ahmad v. Belangia

Court Case
Aug 11, 2016

Kenny v. Wilson