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Judge overturns ban on 'evil' Harry Potter

Caryn Rousseau,Arkansas
Thursday 24 April 2003 00:00 BST
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A federaljudge has ruled that the Harry Potter books be made available again to pupils in Arkansas after rejecting claims that tales of wizards and spells could harm children.

The Cedarville School District angeredfree speech groups and families after it ruled that students required parental permission to check out the books following a complaint by a parent.

The books by J K Rowling have been assailed by some Christian groups in the US for their themes of witchcraft. The American Library Association says the books were the most frequently challenged last year, but rarely did those challenges lead to restrictions or bans.

The plaintiffs, Billy and Mary Nell Counts, said they feared their daughter, Dakota, who is of primary-school age, would be stigmatised if she were identified as someone who read books the district considered "evil". First Amendment associations and the children's author Judy Blume filed a brief in support of the couple last month. They claimed the Cedarville district was committing censorship and trampling on students' right to receive information. They won the ruling from the US District Judge Jimm Larry Hendren.

"Everybody is just thrilled with the decision," the plaintiffs' lawyer, Brian Meadors, said.

The three board members who voted for the restrictions felt that the Harry Potter books, which portray the adventures of a young wizard, prompted children to disobey authority and carried occult messages.

Scholastic, which publishes books for schools, said its Harry Potter series taught children about right and wrong. "We're proud to publish the Harry Potter books," a spokeswoman said. "We think they're about good and evil, and we don't believe in censorship."

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