Warren E. Burger

“ The First Amendment, as with other parts of the Constitution, must deal with new problems in a changing world. In an attempt to deal with a problem in an area traditionally left to the states, a plurality of the Court, in a lavish expansion going beyond any prior holding under the First Amendment, expresses its view that a school board's decision concerning what books are to be in the school library is subject to federal court review. ”

“ Under the plurality view, if a school board wants to be assured that it maintains control over the education of its students, every page of every book sought to be acquired must be read before a purchase decision is made. ”

“ The plurality fails to recognize the fact that local control of education involves democracy in a microcosm. In most public schools in the United States, the parents have a large voice in running the school. [6] Through participation in the election of school board members, the parents influence, if not control, the direction of their children's education. A school board is not a giant bureaucracy far removed from accountability for its actions ”

“ The plurality concludes that, under the Constitution, school boards cannot choose to retain or dispense with books if their discretion is exercised in a "narrowly partisan or political manner." Ante at 870. The plurality concedes that permissible factors are whether the books are "pervasively vulgar," ante at 871, or educationally unsuitable. Ibid. "Educational suitability," however, is a standardless phrase. ”

“ This conclusion will undoubtedly be drawn in many — if not most — instances because of the decisionmaker's content-based judgment that the ideas contained in the book or the idea expressed from the author's method of communication are inappropriate for teenage pupils. ”