School board wants to depose 7-year-old girl about what books she wants to check out at the library but can't because they are banned

Escambia County School Board at a June 12 meeting (ECPS/YouTube)

A Florida school board is urging a judge to order a 7-year-old girl to testify in a deposition in a lawsuit over the district’s decision to ban some books from the library.

The girl’s mother, Ann Novakowski, is part of the federal lawsuit by other parents and the free-speech group PEN America, among others, against the Escambia County School District for removing books from the library shelves. Plaintiffs claim the school district is violating the First Amendment rights of students by banning the books. While the plaintiffs and school district agree that middle and high school students can be deposed, they are at odds about whether the elementary school students should do so.

On July 2, Novakowski submitted a motion for a protective order asking a judge to shield her daughter, a rising second grader identified in court documents as J.N., from testifying.

“The Board seeks to depose J.N. ‘to explore the claims and defenses in the case’ and to ask about what books she ‘actually wants to read and is interested in,’ apart from what Plaintiff Novakowski thinks her daughter wants to read; whether J.N. is interested in checking out the named books from the school library; and whether the characterization of J.N.’s reading interests in the Complaint is accurate,” the motion said.

Novakowski argued there is no “meaningful distinction” between what she and her daughter would say and the mother’s testimony would be sufficient. She further said there is no dispute about the books the girl wants to check out that are no longer available, namely “And Tango Makes Three” and “When Aidan Became a Brother” along with “Uncle Bobby’s Wedding,” which is on restricted access.

Since the testimony would be “cumulative,” it would be an “undue burden.”

“It would require young J.N. to devote time away from family and friends to prepare for her testimony and to face questioning by opposing counsel in deposition — an experience that is enormously difficult and stressful for adults, let alone a seven-year-old,” attorneys wrote.

But in a response filed Tuesday , the district’s attorneys argued that the girl’s testimony is necessary and “critical.”

“Plaintiffs cannot bootstrap the standing of J.N.’s mother — itself disputed — onto J.N.; J.N.’s standing must sink or swim on its own,” the defendants stated.

The girl also has “distinct information separate and apart from her mother.”

“Plaintiffs have not shown specific harms will come to J.N. if she testifies, and cannot use her status as a minor as both a sword and shield in this suit,” the response said.

According to the lawsuit, the girl goes to the library at least once a week and is “particularly interested in books about families and different family arrangements.” Her testimony would prove that she is interested in that subject matter, the district said.

A judge will rule on the issue at a later date.

The post School board wants to depose 7-year-old girl about what library books she wants to check out but can’t because they are banned first appeared on Law & Crime .