Fla. judge orders books back in schools

MIAMI, July 25 (UPI) -- A U.S. federal judge in Florida has ordered Miami-Dade schools to return 24 children's books banned by the school board to library shelves.

U.S. District Judge Alan Gold ruled Monday that "Vamos a Cuba" and 23 other controversial books about Cuba must be returned to school libraries by next Monday, The Miami Herald reported Tuesday.

Gold said the school board "abused its discretion in a manner that violated the transcendent imperatives of the First Amendment."

The school board ordered the books removed after a parent, a former Cuban political prisoner, complained they portrayed Cuba inaccurately, the newspaper reported. The school board claimed the books were removed due to those inaccuracies, but Gold said in his ruling: "I conclude that the School Board's claim on 'inaccuracies' is a guise and pretext for 'political orthodoxy.'"

The director of the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed the suit to have the books returned to shelves, urged the school board to offer books with opposing viewpoints, instead of suppressing the current ones, the Herald said.