Counts V Cedarville School District 3g6n2k

Rachel Arbacher, Scotia Code, Amanda Feinberg, Neida Mbuia-Joao, Tuyet Nguyen, Sofia Sandoval-Ferriss, Ellie Struewing

Counts v. Cedarville Prosecution Notes Their Arguments:  Possibly that the author was suicidal before the books came out o How is suicidal author a problem? o Creative freedom, healing journey for her.  That since the population is majority white and christian they should be able to censor to the liking of the majority of the community. o Rebuttal: List of all the mentioned characters of colour in the Harry Potter Books o Rebuttal: Majority rule should NEVER overpower minority rights. If we allow that we’re no better than those damn Soviets. Our Main Arguments (correct me if I’m wrong):  The restriction of the books was injurious to Dakota Counts  There is no mention of the actual Wiccan religion within the books  The objections to the supposed instance of Wicca within the books are purely religious and therefore are unconstitutional (this is really important. We really have to prove BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT that the book restriction was the result of religious bias).  The books do not in fact cause disobedience and “anarchy” within students in the school, the restriction was to prevent this from happening but this is merely speculative (this is also really important to drive home BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT. It seems obvious but that’s precisely why we have to be extra careful about making it clear.)  You can’t censor based on ideas and the district basically censored because they didn’t like the idea of witchcraft and the occult (RIGHT? Yes.)  Finally because of the latter three arguments, the Harry Potter books effectively cause no tangible harm to the majority of the population and the ban on them is not only unconstitutional but unfair

Main Points of :  It’s both wrong and unconstitutional to impose one’s or one’s community’s religious beliefs on others.  The precedent set in BOE v. Pico o SOmeone please summarize this tomorrow: The Island Trees Union Free School District's Board of Education (the "Board"), acting contrary to the recommendations of a committee of parents and school staff, ordered that certain books be removed from its district's junior high and high school libraries. In of its actions, the Board said such books were: "antiAmerican, anti-Christian, anti-Semitic, and just plain filthy." Acting

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through his friend Francis Pico, and on behalf of several other students, Steven Pico brought suit in federal district court challenging the Board's decision to remove the books. The Board won; the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed. The Board petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court, which granted certiorari. o Supreme Court’s Formal ruling: Although school boards have a vested interest in promoting respect for social, moral, and political community values, their discretionary power is secondary to the transcendent imperatives of the First Amendment. The Court, in a 5-to-4 decision, held that as centers for voluntary inquiry and the dissemination of information and ideas, school libraries enjoy a special affinity with the rights of free speech and press. Therefore, the Board could not restrict the availability of books in its libraries simply because its disagreed with their idea content. Majority rule does not overpower minority rights in this case.

Other side’s possible witnesses (we’ll need to cross-examine):  Angie Haney (or other parent who s ban)  School District Board Member (maybe Superintendent Dave Smith)  Teachers/Principals/PTSA  Mark Hodges (or other religious official) Evidence List: Evidence 1: Excerpt from ALA Law Book - Dawlish Evidence 2: Annotated copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone - Potts Evidence 3: Copy of Original Court Memorandum - Dawlish Evidence 4: Slate Magazine Article Advocating Reading - X-Examining Alan Evidence 5: List of Banned Books in Arkansas - Nerman Evidence 6: Testament of Wiccan Representative - Rowling Evidence 7: Transcription of Pico v. Board of Education - Dawlish Unofficial: Rowling has a list of minorities, also then if it doesn’t get entered, try to use it during cross-examining if they bring up religion.

OFFICIAL Court Agenda Opening Statement (Lena) This is a case about the freedom of speech. It’s about the right to receive ideas and information. Cedarville School District has taken away the Harry Potter books, foolishly claiming that they promote witchcraft and the occult. I am here to tell you that this is unconstitutional. Cedarville School District is part of Cedarville, a small town in Arkansas. Dakota Counts, a student at Cedarville Elementary School, and her family understand that keeping these books out of the reach of students infringes on her First Amendment rights.

The defense will try to convince you that the Harry Potter books promote witchcraft and disobedience. You will hear from JK Rowling, the author of the series, that the intent of the books is entirely fiction, and does not promote Wiccan culture. You will also hear from Harriet Potts, a behavioral counselor, who will share with you that this series will not influence your children to become witches and wizards. Susan Dawlish, a First Amendment Lawyer, will prove to you that the issue of book censorship has been tried before and has been proven to be unconstitutional. Billy Ray Counts, the father of Dakota, will explain that he s the freedom of literacy, and knows that banning the books is a detriment all children, and is unfounded, as it is not promoting Wiccan religion. Dakota Counts will tell you that the books do not make her want to be a witch, and that she believes that it is unfair that she can’t check them out at the library. Holly Nerman, an English teacher, will tell you that reading Harry Potter books is beneficial to student literacy and does not cause a disturbance in the classroom. All of these witnesses will prove to you that the Harry Potter books should not be restricted from students. Listen to both sides, but pay attention to our witnesses and our evidence, which will prove to you that there are no reasons to restrict the Harry Potter books from students. Defense’s Statement Witness 1 - Dakota Counts (Ellie) Goal of Questioning:  Harry Potter didn’t want to make you be a witch  The books were indeed taken by the teachers, this is true and enforced  You felt that your rights were violated  You know that the books aren’t real and you aren’t going to like ride broomsticks or something stupid.  You have been encouraged to read more because of Harry Potter Evidence Presented:  None Rebuttal:  You’re 8. Start crying.  You just want to be an astronaut.  Werk those acting skills. Werk. Suggested Questions o Why do you like a the Harry Potter books? o How have you classmates reacted to the restriction? o How have you been affected by the restriction? o Do you want to be a witch after reading these books? o Have you been inspired to civil disobedience and/or Quote-unquote “anarchy” by the Harry Potter Series? Witness 2 - JK Rowling (Rachel) Goal:  To get Rowling to establish that there was no actual Wicca within the books  To establish that the books present good and beneficial themes, statistics about Harry Potter helping people, Fanmail, lives touched

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introduce the minority characters here. Evidence to Introduce:  Evidence 2: The annotated Harry Potter books  UNOFFICIAL: The List of Minority Characters<- this isn’t official evidence; we didn’t enter it. i just have it on my fact sheet :) they can ask about the characters if they want to  Evidence 6: Testament of Wicca Representative Rebuttal:  Does my personal life matter, does it affect my artistic endeavors?  Grades don’t measure my creativity  I’ve gotten through my past, Harry helped me look the future and I hope it will help other young minds Notes:  You can act like super touched by Dakota’s statement.  I just want to help the little ones, like her  So sweet that someone likes my books *sniffle*, etc Suggested Questions: o What genre are the Harry Potter books? o With what intent were the books written? o Do the Harry Potter books advocate the Wicca religion? o What is the purpose or use of magic in your books? Witness 3: Holly Nerman, reading specialist Goal:  There was no reported sizable disruption (SAY REPORTED, because it can’t be disputed. They haven’t ed the teachers, I asked. And there weren’t any reports.)  Harry Potter has increased reading.  Talk about all the pretty metaphors in Harry Potter o Friendship, love, learning, wheee Evidence Introduced:  Evidence 5: List of Banned Books o Okay so these books are all banned for “profane and explicit language of a sexual and graphic nature” (Also promoting the homosexual agenda, but we should stay away from that because relevance) so the district has made a selfproclaimed standard for censorship. Harry Potter contains no sexual profanity or explicit and graphic depictions of sexuality and violence, so it shouldn’t be banned. o Also this list means that like the Odyssey, Macbeth isn’t banned and they both promote the uses of dark magic and religion (also sex is in Macbeth a little, and a lot in the Odyssey.) (but these two also have historical relevance so maybe not the best examples) Rebuttal:  I just want children to learn  The Odyssey does promote violence, and dark magic. Suggested Questions

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Was there a significant disturbance caused by the books before or after the restriction? What have you observed as an effect of the books being in your school’s library? What are some of the books you teach in class? So you do teach other books that have witches and magic?

Witness 4: Billy Ray Counts, father of Dakota Counts, plaintiff library committee (Rachel) Goal:  Reason for restriction  Why he and library committee voted to KEEP IT (overturned by board)  This decision was biased  Unfair to the school children hurting their education Rebuttal:  I want what’s best for these students  Right to learn Suggested Questions: o What do you do on the library committee? o How would the ban affect your daughter? o What are the reasons why you oppose this restriction? o How did the library committee act to the parent complaint about the Harry Potter books? Witness 5: Harriett Potts, Child Behavioral Psychologist (Ellie) Goal:  Harry Potter books increase literacy  HP is good role model  HP won’t hurt anyone,no evidence to suggest so  Harry Potter gives to kids who have been verbally and physically abused.  There has been no evidence of children wanting to practice magic or disobeying authority after reading the HP books.  Over half (51%) of Harry Potter readers ages 5-17 years old say they did not read books for fun before they started reading Harry Potter, but now they do, and 65% say they have been doing better in school since they started reading the series.  Harry Potter promotes valuable friendships and loyalty.  Asking kids to get their parents signature in order to read will promote disobedience more than Harry Potter will (forging signatures)  (89%) say that reading Harry Potter has helped their child enjoy reading more, and 76% say that reading Harry Potter has helped their child do better in school”  Janet Seden, professor of the School of Health and Social Welfare at Open University concluded that enjoyable fictional experiences as a child “create empathy in the reader and enable us to confront the need for imagination as parents and practitioners” Evidence Introduced:  Evidence 2: Annotated Harry Potter Book o I took the liberty of annotating this book, please notice how  Blue = Good Harry: basic politeness, studying, leadership skills  Orange = Bad Harry: Harry disobeys the rules

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 Green = Good Harry: Harry Obeys the rules Even when Harry disobeys the rules, he learns the consequences of his actions. This helps the students in that they can see the correlation between bad actions and consequences without harming themselves.

Rebuttal:  If in cross they mention the suicide, play off that Harry Potter may have been the trigger for that death but obviously there were many other more serious mental problems at play here. Notes:  Act credible, don’t be spacey shrink Suggested Questions o What are your qualifications? (Training, etc) o Have you read the Harry Potter books? o Have you noticed influences caused by or related to the Harry Potter books? o What are the themes of Harry Potter that would affect the behavior of children, if any? o Would you recommend these books to young readers? Witness 6: Susan Dawlish, First Amendment Lawyer (Scotia) Goal  To state the unconstitutionality of the legislation o Bring up past precedents. o Like all of them  Separation of church and state o board banned it b/c it exposed students to the “religion of witchcraft” o Christian parents that desire to can match the fantasy appeal of Harry Potter stories with God's wonder. Colson plans to “use the Potter craze” to tap into what will “lead kids to the real thing” (Colson). This illustrates how some parents choose to use Harry Potter stories as a springboard for other discussions about their faith. Evidence:  Evidence 1: Excerpt from ALA Law Book  Evidence 3: Copy of Original Court Memorandum  Evidence 7: Copy of BOE v. Pico Possible Cross Examination Questions Superintendent Dave Smith (Luisa) As a superintendent, you would have insight in the actions of your students, correct?  Yes, and is it true you don’t have any tangible evidence of Harry Potter leading to disobedience in students?  Yet you don’t know for sure this kid did this after reading Harry Potter?  Couldn’t this kid have had disobedience problems from other factors?  If you don’t have any tangible evidence, isn’t it safe to say that your claims Harry Potter causes disobedience is purely speculative?  Isn’t it true that banning Harry Potter is a violation of first amendment rights?

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WIth purely speculative claims, isn’t the disregard for student’s first amendments rights unjustified?

Child Development Specialist, Alan Kazdin(Ben L.) As a child development specialist, your best interest is with the children, right?  Isn’t it true you want the highest literacy rate for students?  This is one of the things you advocate as a child development specialist, correct?  You think literacy is essential to human development?  Your Honor, Permission to bring up evidence. *SHOW ARTICLE*  Do you recognize this article?  This article was written by you?  So this is a accurate assessment of your opinion on literacy, correct?  Can you please read the highlighted section?  Doesn’t it seem from this article that you wrote that Harry Potter is an example of a book associated with literacy?  If you are so against Harry Potter, why do you mention it in a positive light?  Couldn’t you have used another book as an example of popular childhood literature that you ?  Isn’t it interpretable that reading Harry Potter is a good example of literacy, something that you claimed to ?  Isn’t restricting children’s access to books that they enjoy counterproductive to your literacy efforts?  When over half of Harry Potter readers ages 5-17 years old say they did not read books for fun before they started reading Harry Potter, but now they do, isn’t it impossible to say this is not beneficial to these students with increasing literacy? FAKE Angry Parent, Martha Lewis (Maddie Boyer) If you object to your childs reading of a book, does that give you the right to parent other people’s children?  Shouldn’t then the schools not have the right to make those decisions?  Parents should be able to make that decision individually, correct? SUICIDE:  Isn’t it entirely probable that the student suicide is correlated yet not caused by harry Potter?  Isn’t it true he/she likely had mental disorders?  Do you have substantial evidence that reading harry potter caused him to commit suicide without any outside factors? Board member, Mark Hodges: (Amalia C.)  Aren’t there no actual parts of the Wiccan religion shown in the Harry Potter?  Can you name any other elements that promote being Wiccan besides fantastical clearly fictional magic?  Yet you still wish to restrict it because of advocating Wiccan religion? Now Jury, I want to talk about religion.

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Isn’t it true that apart from being a member of the board you are also a pastor in the community? So you have your own religious interests in this matter? You are against this book because it is against Christian's view of witches, correct? So you would like to impose your religious beliefs on the whole school? (therefore an extension of the government) ((((There hasn’t been evidence of Harry Potter leading to cults, right? Couldn’t these cults be correlated yet not necessarily caused by the reading of a fantasy book?)))) So It’s safe to say you have a religious interest, as a Pastor? If church and state is supposed to be separate, how can you use your religious beliefs to restrict student’s education on the back of a religious argument?

**Is this not an infringement of the establishment clause? (they’re a public school and are therefore an extension of the government)

Closing Argument Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I am here to remind you that this is a case about the first amendment. This is a case about protect the 1st amendment rights of our children, including their right to freedom of thought. Freedom of thought ensures that they have absolute unfettered access to material, material which I might add the defense has not successfully proved to be harmful, that can foster independent thought and ideas. This is a case, not only about protecting freedom of religion, but freedom from religion. This ban violates the establishment clause of the constitution which prohibits the preference by the U.S. government of one religion over another. Cedarville School District is a government funded school district. Them restricting access to the Harry Potter books based upon alleged containment of references to the Wicca religion is not only incorrect, but unconstitutional. As Ms. Rowling has shown you today, there is no explicit mention of the actual Wicca religion within the Harry Potter books. The magic practiced within the confines of the pages of this fantasy series is just that: fantasy. Dakota gets that. She understands the difference between the Harry Potter world and the real world. All this little girl wanted to do was read some of her favorite books. She is not so underdeveloped as to actually believe that the world contained within this fictional text could be real. And yet the school district is arguing the opposite of that point. They are basically degrading the education that they provide their students by eluding that these children are so thick, so mentally immature that they cannot discern the difference between reality and fantasy; that something as simple as a 500-page novel can incite these feeble minded children to deplorable acts of disobedience and anarchy. I am here to tell you that that contention is not only insulting to the intelligence of the children in the district, but that it is blatantly incorrect. The defense has failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the Harry Potter books could cause any, even marginal harm or disruption to the school. Throughout this case, my opposition has attempted to convince you of _______. They have tried to tell you that _______. And they have unsuccessfully argued that __________. I'm here to tell you that they're wrong. I'm here to tell you that all they have successfully argued are some frivolous facts about the storyline of the book and that they believe that discrimination is okay. They say that since the majority of the population

under the jurisdiction of the Cedarville School district is white and Christian they should be able to impose their ideals upon the rest of the population of Cedarville. They fail to recognize that America was not a country built on the ideals of lemmings; we do not just follow the pack. This country was founded on the ideals of ingenuity and individual rights, and most importantly an individual’s right to think and consume whatever they want, so long as this consumption does not cause a reasonable disruption. Once again, my opponent has failed to prove that unfettered access to the Harry Potter books would in fact cause a reasonable disruption. As far as we know, all my opponent has proven is that the Cedarville School district is in favor of a restriction on the Harry Potter books that would violate the Supreme Court’s previous ruling in a case quite similar to this, BOE v. Pico. In that case the court’s opinion stated and I quote, “Although school boards have a vested interest in promoting respect for social, moral, and political community values, their discretionary power is secondary to the transcendent imperatives of the First Amendment. The Court, held that as centers for voluntary inquiry and the dissemination of information and ideas, school libraries enjoy a special affinity with the rights of free speech and press. Therefore, the Board could not restrict the availability of books in its libraries simply because its disagreed with their idea content.” *Concludy bit summarizing the major points of our case and pitfalls of theirs* On that note, I implore you jury to look at the facts presented and not presented (looks at defense) to you in this case, and make a decision based on the merits of our evidence.

WORKS CITED

"4.1—RESIDENCE REQUIREMENTS." District Student Handbook. Cedarville Public School District, n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2014. . "About Scholastic | Press Release." About Scholastic | Press Release. Scholastic Publishing, 25 July 2006. Web. 10 Apr. 2014. . "COUNTS v. CEDARVILLE SCHOOL DISTRICT | Leagle.com." COUNTS v. CEDARVILLE SCHOOL DISTRICT | Leagle.com. Leagle.com, n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2014. . DeMitchell, Todd A., and John J. Carney. "Harry Potter and the Public School Library."Unm.edu. The University of New Mexico, n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2014. . "Google Scholar." Counts v. Cedarville School District, 295 F. Supp. 2d 996 Dist. Court, WD Arkansas 2003. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.

. Gould, Autumn. "Book Censorship." Lehigh University. Lehigh University, 2008. Web. 08 Apr. 2014. "Harry Potter: Controversies." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2014. . "Lawsuit: Counts v. Cedarville School District." Counts v. Cedarville School District. Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, 24 Oct. 2011. Web. 10 Apr. 2014. . Lebrecht, Norman. "How Harry Saved Reading." The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, 09 July 2011. Web. 10 Apr. 2014. . "Notable First Amendment Court Cases." American Library Association. American Library Association, n.d. Web. 09 Apr. 2014. . Pelman, Amy, and Beverly Lynch. "The School Library versus the School Board: An Exploration of the Book Banning Trend of the 1980s." The School Library versus the School Board: An Exploration of the Book Banning Trend of the 1980s. The Journal of Research on Libraries and Young Adults, 14 Feb. 2011. Web. 10 Apr. 2014. . "Waterstone's Booksellers Ltd: Harry Potter Improves Children's Reading." Waterstone's Booksellers Ltd: Harry Potter Improves Children's Reading. PRNewswire, n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2014. . Woodrum, Emily Anne. "The Harry Potter Controversy - Joyner Library." The Harry Potter Controversy - Joyner Library. East Carolina University, n.d. Web. 09 Apr. 2014. .