Florida School Board Lacks ‘Legislative Privilege’ for Unexplained Book Removals, Court Says
Judges ruled the Escambia County board acted as administrators, not legislators, when it pulled books from library shelves
A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ruled two-to-one in PEN American Center Inc. v. Kevin Adams that the Escambia County School District and its school board cannot claim "legislative privilege" to avoid testifying about removing and restricting books from public school libraries, Publishers Weekly reported. The October 19 ruling affirms a district court decision and lets the underlying case, PEN American Center Inc. v. Escambia County School Board, continue.
Circuit judges Andrew L. Brasher and Jill Pryor found that board members acted as administrators, not legislators, when they chose to remove books. Brasher wrote that legislative privilege protects against being compelled to testify about legislative acts like policymaking, voting, or investigating, but not about "administrative application of existing policies." The case traces to a May 2023 complaint filed after teacher Vicky Baggett challenged nine books; a district review committee recommended against removal, but the board went ahead and removed more books than initially challenged, according to the outlet.
This marks the defendants' second unsuccessful appeal on legislative privilege grounds, Publishers Weekly reported. PEN America Florida director William Johnson said in a press statement that the ruling "affirms that decisions about removing books from school libraries and classrooms must be subject to scrutiny." PEN America legal director Mara Gassman told the outlet, "We're just eager to get back into discovery and take the depositions of the school board members."
This is the second time this board has tried the "we were just legislating" defense, and the second time it's failed. The court's distinction matters for every district watching: if you're removing books through an administrative process rather than a formal policymaking vote, you don't get to hide behind legislative privilege when someone asks you to explain yourself under oath. PEN America's legal director says they're eager to get into discovery and start taking depositions — that's the real stakes here, board members on the record about why specific titles came off shelves.
From the Coral Wire edition of Fri, Oct 23 2026 · Coral Index 57/100 (Mixed signals)