I admit I have not yet read “Kafka on the Shore,” which is supposedly the reason state Rep. Amy Bradstreet Arata, R-New Gloucester, wrote her “obscenity” legislation. However, it appears there is already a way that a parent, student, et al., can object to books they disagree with reading by assignment. So, it appears Ms. Arata has not necessarily exhausted her administrative remedies.
Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart once said about obscenity, “I know it when I see it.” Personal excuses have been used to ban “Fahrenheit 451,” “To Kill a Mockingbird,” etc. I am a free-speech progressive, and I firmly believe the cure for bad speech is not less but more.
Please oppose this law. It’s not any supposedly limited-government representative’s job to tell anyone else what to (not) read. Instead, as free people, we decide ourselves. Students, parents and teachers, individually and/or together, are fully qualified to choose.
John F. Prendergast
Camden
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