Island Trees School District v. Pico
| Board of Education v. Pico | |
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| Argued March 2, 1982 Decided June 25, 1988 |
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| Full case name | Board of Education, Island Trees Union Free School District No. 26, et al. v. Pico, by his next friend Pico, et al. |
| Citations | 457 U.S. 853 (more)
102 S. Ct. 2799; 73 L. Ed. 2d 435; 1982 U.S. LEXIS 8; 8 Media L. Rep. 1721
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| Prior history | Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit |
| Holding | |
| The 1st Amendment limits the power of local school boards to remove library books from junior high schools and high schools. | |
| Court membership | |
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| Case opinions | |
| Plurality | Brennan, joined by Marshall, Stevens; Blackmun (all but parts II-A(1)) |
| Concurrence | Blackmun (in part) |
| Concurrence | White (in judgment) |
| Dissent | Burger, joined by Powell, Rehnquist, O'Connor |
| Dissent | Powell |
| Dissent | Rehnquist, joined by Burger, Powell |
| Dissent | O'Connor |
| Laws applied | |
| U.S. Const. amend. I | |
Board of Education v. Pico, 457 U.S. 853 (1982), was a case in which the United States Supreme Court split on the First Amendment issue of a local school boards removing library books from junior high schools and high schools. Four ruled that it was unconstitutional, four Justices concluded the contrary (with perhaps a few minor exceptions), and one Justice concluded that the Court need not decide the question.
According to the syllabus of the case:
Petitioner Board of Education of the Island Trees Union Free School District, rejecting recommendations of a committee of parents and school staff that it had appointed, ordered that certain books, which the Board characterized as "anti-American, anti-Christian, anti-Sem[i]tic, and just plain filthy," be removed from high school and junior high school libraries. Respondent students then brought this action for declaratory and injunctive relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the Board and petitioner Board members, alleging that the Board's actions had denied respondents their rights under the First Amendment. The District Court granted summary judgment in petitioners' favor. The Court of Appeals reversed and remanded for a trial on the merits of respondents' allegations.
Eleven books were the subject of the case. The books were:
According to footnote 3 of the case, the first nine titles above were removed from shelves of the High School library; A Reader for Writers was removed from the Junior High School library; and The Fixer was removed from the curriculum of a 12th-grade literature course.
No single opinion commanded a majority of the Court, or announced any legal binding rule. Justice Brennan announced the judgment of the Court affirming the Court of Appeals, and controlled the outcome of the case and delivered an opinion joined by Justices Marshall and Stevens, and joined in all but Part II-A(1) by Justice Blackmun. Justice Blackmun filed an opinion concurring in part and concurring in the judgment.
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