In 1976, members of the Board of Education of the Island Trees School District of Long Island removed nine books from school libraries that they considered to be harmful to students. The books, including such titles as Best Short Stories by Negro Writers by Langston Hughes and Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut, were condemned by the school board as being without educational merit and “anti-American, anti-Christian, anti-Semitic, and just plain filthy.”

In response to this action, high school student Stephen Pico filed suit against the Board for violation of his First Amendment right to access information. Pico insisted that the books were being unfairly targeted for their points of view. The District Court of New York ruled in favor of the Board, but a subsequent judgment from the Court of Appeals reversed the ruling. The case was then brought before the Supreme Court.

Did the Board of Education violate student’s First Amendment rights to information by removing the books?