—parents' challenges to assigning the book Slaughterhouse Five in a high school literature class dismissed

It was not, however, until 1972 that a major court case centered on a specific objection to a specific'ritten curricular material.

"Plaintiff's complaint specifically pleads only that Slaughterhouse Five is used in a public school and'contains and makes reference to religious matters.'We have been cited to no authority, nor has our own research uncovered any, which holds that any portion of any constitution is violated simply because a novel, utilized in a public school'contains and makes reference …

"Academic Freedom in the Public Schools; The Right to Teach," New York University Law Review, vol. 48 (Dec. 1973): 1183. 4.

In deciding that Slaughterhouse-Five could not be banned from the libraries and classrooms of the Michigan schools, the Court of Appeals of Michigan declared: "Vonnegut's literary dwellings on war, religion, death, Christ, God, government, politics, and any other subject should be as welcome in the public schools of this state as those of Machiavelli, Chaucer …

—indicated that a modern day Thoreau, who rejected contemporary secular values accepted by the majority because of his philosophical and personal beliefs, would not be protected by the Constitu?

—a novel (Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five) used in a public school curriculum made only incidental or ancillary reference to religious matters for essentially literary reasons, and therefore did not constitute establishment of religion.

—a parent challenged on religious grounds the use of Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five in the community's public schools.

The court found the words not to be obscene, profane, or vulgar and thus were protected by the First Amendment

The Supreme Court, 1968 Term, supra note 35, at 159. 59In other words, the purpose of the demonstration was to protest racial discrimination, rather than to engage in religious bigotry.(Refer to textual discussion accompanying notes 87-93 infra.)

[PDF] Free Speech and Public Education: An Overview of Legal, Social, and …

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[PDF] IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA