BANGOR, Maine -- The Vietnam War book '365 Days,' banned by the Baileyville School Committee for profanity, is being returned to the shelves of a high school library under a court ruling.
'As long as words convey ideas, federal courts must remain on the First Amendment alert in book banning cases,' U.S. District Judge Conrad K. Cyr ruled Friday.
Cyr ruled the Baileyville School Committee must return the book to the shelves of the Woodland High School library 'where it shall be made available to students and adults in accordance with normal library lending proceedures.'
'The First Amendment is alive and well and living in Bangor, Maine. I'm very happy, if not elated,' said Michael Sheck, the student who filed the lawsuit against the committee.
The critically acclaimed book, by Dr. Ronald J. Glasser, an Army surgeon, describes the effects of the Vietnam war on 17 young soldiers who were maimed or wounded in battle.
The school committee unamiously voted in April 1981 to ban '365 Days' from the school library because of parental complaints that the book contained profanity.
That decision ired Sheck, a senior, who said the swear words were used in anger, not in lust, so he filed suit against the committee, alleging that his First Amendment rights had been violated.
The hearing included testimony from several prominent authors who wrote books about the Vietnam War, including Frances Fitzgerald, author of 'Fire in the Lake: The Vietnamese and Americans in Vietnam.'
Sheck said he contacted Fitzgerald and others who testifed in the trial when he learned of the decision.
'The authors were notified and they were estatic,' he said.
