Judge Allows Use of Some Banned ‘Humanist’ Books

A federal judge today amended a March 4 order to allow restricted use of some of the 44 textbooks he had banned from Alabama classrooms for promoting godless secular humanism.

In his new order, U.S. District Judge W. Brevard Hand said four home economics texts could continue to be used with certain portions found objectionable to the court removed.

As for the remaining 40 books, he said they “shall not be used.”

“The continued use of these history and social studies textbooks without appropriate supplementation remains constitutionally unacceptable,” Hand said.

The judge said the history texts could be used further with the addition of a teaching supplement giving key religious events in U.S. history, but the state has refused to agree to that provision.

An appeal of Hand’s earlier order to the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta is planned by the state Board of Education.

Last week, Hand told attorneys that he would accept some changes in the book-ban order and asked them for suggestions. But Jim Ippolito, an attorney for the state school board, said Monday the state considers the judge’s plan “inappropriate and unworkable.”

Attorneys for the 600 plaintiffs who filed the lawsuit that challenged the textbooks for teaching humanism told the judge they could accept continued use of the books under certain conditions, including use of supplements.