3 July 17-23, 2025 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com NEW TIMES | CONTENTS | LETTERS | NEWS | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | CAFE | MUSIC | MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2008 miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | CONTENTS | LETTERS | RIPTIDE | METRO | NIGHT+DAY | STAGE | ART | FILM | CAFE | MUSIC | ▼ CENSORSHIP STATE OPINION: BOOK BANS ARE CONTAGIOUS TRUMP AIMS TO TAKE RON DESANTIS’ BOOK BAN STRATEGY NATIONWIDE. BY STEPHANA FERRELL AND WILLIAM JOHNSON W ithin Florida’s Depart- ment of Education, the phrase “parental rights” has been used as a “virtu- ous” slogan, repeated so often that listeners forget to ask: Whose rights? Which parents? Florida has rewritten the rules of public education, not in the interest of empowering all families, but to serve a highly politicized agenda that enables only a few voices to dic- tate what the rest of the state’s schoolchildren can read, say, learn, and teach. A new joint re- port from PEN America and the Florida Free- dom to Read Project, “The Blueprint State: Lessons from Parents Left Behind by ‘Paren- tal Rights’ Policies in Florida,” illuminates precisely how these policies have reshaped education and how this model is at risk of be- ing applied nationwide. The implications are frightening. Under the banner of serving “parental rights,” censorious laws like HB 1069 allow any parent, or in some cases, any resident, to file a complaint with their local school district about a book containing so-called sexual conduct, triggering its immediate removal from school shelves until the complaint is resolved. No due process. No evidence required. And while these school district review processes drag on for weeks, months, and even years, students lose access, and parents who want their children to read widely have no way to opt back in. Nothing about this policy is serving Flori- da’s students, let alone their parents. Another law, HB 1467, requires the Florida Department of Education to annually publish a list of every book title removed in any dis- trict. This list, billed as informational, has evolved into an unofficial mandate to nudge other districts to follow suit, regardless of whether the titles have ever been challenged locally. In Seminole, for example, over 140 ti- tles were permanently removed. Not initiated by local objections, but by the state list. In Hillsborough, the school district removed over 600 titles from shelves for review after pressure from the state attorney general and education commissioner. No community in- put or transparency. It is nothing more than educational erasure, outsourced from one district to another. And what do actual Florida parents think? Our new report makes this clear. One hun- dred percent of all families in 19 districts and at least 99 percent in 13 more chose to grant their children full access to their school li- braries. But those choices are now meaning- less. The law allows one objector to erase the preferences of thousands. The report also details how other state- sponsored laws, such as HB 1467, have com- pelled educators to remain silent. The state-mandated training required by the bill states that teachers and librarians must now “err on the side of caution,” while the state’s Principles of Professional Conduct dangle the threat of decertification for those who misstep. The result? A culture where self-censorship is the default and where the state, not parents, makes the final call on what is “appropriate.” This regime of “parental rights” in Florida is a disguise for policies that instead elevate a vocal minority to push censorship while sidelining the vast majority of families who trust teachers and school librarians and believe their children are capable of facing complexity. Now the Florida model is being pitched nationally by the current federal administra- tion, which is echoing the very tactics Florida has been living under since 2021, dismissing book bans as hoaxes and cutting funding for programs that address race and other topics or teach complex texts. Teachers should be trusted to teach, and all parents should be empowered to guide their children. Instead, Florida has built a machine for erasure. What it protects is not children, but the viewpoints of a particular group. And now that blueprint is being handed to the nation. Fear and censorship are the actual currency of this movement. It is what justifies the sud- den scrubbing of civil rights leaders from text- books and the shuttering of classroom libraries. It is what leads state officials to suggest that en- slaved people “developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.” It is what prompts school administra- tors to remove books to avoid losing their cre- dentials preemptively. It is what allows the state to say that it is protecting children, even as it narrows their worldview. Don’t mistake this for parental rights. It’s selective empowerment, dressed up in the language of freedom. Editor’s note: William Johnson is the direc- tor of PEN America Florida. Stephana Ferrell is a co-director of the Florida Freedom to Read Project. The views expressed in the above com- mentary are solely those of the writer(s). | RIPTIDE | GET MORE NEWS & COMMENTARY AT MIAMINEWTIMES.COM/NEWS Under Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida has racked up more than any other U.S. state. Photo by MKPhoto/Adobe Stock ▼ KEY WEST KEY WEST CAVES CITY OKS ICE PARTNERSHIP AFTER ATTORNEY GENERAL’S THREAT. BY B. SCOTT MCLENDON F lorida Attorney General James Uthmeier’s threat to remove Key West officials from office was successful after commissioners Tuesday night about-faced and signed a controversial immigration enforcement agreement. Key West Mayor Danise Henriquez scheduled Tuesday’s special meeting to discuss whether the city should sign the agreement or join South Miami’s legal challenge after Uthmeier reacted to commissioners voiding the agreement with Im- migration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Dozens of residents at Tuesday’s meeting spoke out against Key West commissioners sign- ing the 287(g) agreement, which deputizes local police officers to enforce federal immigration law — with the city footing the bill for the personnel. They urged commissioners to stand by their pre- vious vote or join South Miami in court. Commissioners did the exact opposite, voting 4-2 in favor of reversing a decision made June 30. Commissioner Samuel Kaufman, who initially voted against signing, was out of town and ab- sent on Tuesday. Just eight days before, commissioners voted 6-1 to void the agreement Police Chief Sean Brandenburg made in March following pressure from fellow police chiefs and county sheriffs. Commissioner Donald Lee, who formerly served as Key West police chief, joined Hen- riquez and Commissioner Aaron Castillo in changing their previous vote at the Tuesday night meeting. “I hope that the pending declaratory relief ac- tion filed by South Miami soon provides answers to municipalities’ legal requirements regarding this issue,” Lee said at the meeting. “Until that time, I believe we must follow the law and re- quire the Key West Police Department to sign the 287(g) agreement. “Tonight I vote with my head, not my heart.” Commissioner Monica Haskell moved to post- pone voting on the resolution until a judge could make a ruling on South Miami’s challenge. “Make no mistake, that entering into the 287(g) is the worst option for our community. Key West depends on tourism. We depend on trust. Turning our police into ICE agents erodes both,” she said during the meeting. “This isn’t about politics, it’s about public safety and eco- nomic survival.” The motion failed, causing almost the entire audience to jeer at the commissioners and prompting a mass exodus. The commissioners’ June 30 vote made Key West the first city in Flor- ida to void its 287(g) agreement. More than 250 municipal police departments and sheriff’s offices in Florida have already signed the agreement. Key West’s decision quickly drew the ire of Governor Ron DeSantis and Attorney General James Uthmeier, who threatened to remove commissioners from office for instituting what he called a sanctuary policy. Following the threat, Henriquez called a special meeting on Tuesday to discuss commissioners’ options, including signing the agreement or joining South Miami’s legal challenge asking a state court to rule on whether Florida municipalities must sign the agreement. Henriquez didn’t respond to New Times’ requests for comment. Hours after the June 30 vote, Uthmeier took to social media, stating on X that Key West offi- cials would be hearing from his office. Twelve hours later, he sent a letter to Key West officials warning he’d remove them from office if they failed to reverse the decision. Uthmeier’s office viewed the decision as a “sanctuary policy,” which is illegal in Florida, and refers to practices that impede law enforcement officers’ operations. In its lawsuit, South Miami argues it’s not re- quired to join a 287(g) immigration enforcement agreement, saying the state law targets counties, not cities. The lawsuit claims that deputizing lo- cal police increases costs and liability, and that refusing the agreement shouldn’t make the city a target under Florida’s sanctuary-city ban. Uthmeier’s office, which did not respond to requests for comment, has yet to reply to South Miami’s legal filing. In late June, his office filed for a two-week extension ending July 9. [email protected] “TONIGHT I VOTE WITH MY HEAD, NOT MY HEART.”
