U.S. judge upholds schools' decision to keep Harry Potter books

[Madspirit]

U.S. judge upholds schools' decision to keep Harry Potter books

By HARRY R. WEBER
Associated Press Writer

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. -- A suburban Atlanta mother who believes the best-
selling Harry Potter books promote witchcraft said Tuesday she may
take her quest to ban the writings from her county schools to federal
court after a state judge rejected her latest effort.

Laura Mallory, who said two of her four children attend public
schools in Gwinnett County, told reporters it may be time to rethink
her arguments with the help of an attorney.

"I maybe need a whole new case from the ground up," said Mallory, who
was not represented by an attorney at the hearing.

Her comments came after Superior Court Judge Ronnie Batchelor said
evidence previously presented by Gwinnett County school officials
supported their decision not to remove the books from school libraries.

Batchelor rejected Mallory's appeal of the local school district's
decision, which was upheld earlier by the state Board of Education.

Mallory has tried to ban the books from county school library shelves
since August 2005, arguing that the popular fiction series is an
attempt to indoctrinate children in witchcraft.

School board members have said the books are good tools to encourage
children to read and to spark creativity and imagination. In May
2006, the county denied Mallory's request. In December, the state
Board of Education upheld the county's decision.

J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books, published by London-based
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, tell stories of children with magic
powers. They have been challenged numerous times since 2000, making
them the most challenged texts of the 21st century, according to the
American Library Association.

At Tuesday's hearing, Mallory argued in part that witchcraft is a
religion practiced by some people and, therefore, the books should be
banned because reading them in school violates the constitutional
separation of church and state.

"I have 5 dream that God will be welcomed back in our schools again,"
Mallory said. "I think we need him."

Mallory said she has testimony from children who have read the Harry
Potter books and have thought about acting out spells described in
the books.

"They don't want the Easter Bunny's power," Mallory said. "The
children in our generation want Harry's power, and they're getting it."

But Victoria Sweeny, an attorney representing county school
officials, said the officials were well within their right not to
remove the books from library shelves. She said the court is bound by
that decision.

"I'm not here to defend Harry Potter," Sweeny said. "I'm here to
defend the Gwinnett County Board of Education's right to make lawful
decisions."

------

On the Net:

J.K. Rowling Official Site: http://www.jkrowling.com/en/

[Beer Snob-50]

1. I want the Easter Bunny's power...

"They don't want the Easter Bunny's power," Mallory said. "The
children in our generation want Harry's power, and they're getting it."


Maybe this woman should have had the eggs taken from her tubes before she conceived so that she couldnot produce any dumb spawn such as herself.

[AllegroRondo]

2. Has anyone told her of the Easter Bunny's pagan origins?

that would be fun to watch.

[Madspirit]

3. Harsh.................but

Funny and accurate. ...and you have to give her credit for brass...bringing the separation of church and state into a Harry Potter debate...and in the next paragraph wanting god back in schools...:rofl:
Lee

[gatorboy]

4. Take that, muggles!

[Madspirit]

6. She IS the Ultimate Muggle!...n/t

[Lobster Martini]

5. OK, I have a problem with this logic...

At Tuesday's hearing, Mallory argued in part that witchcraft is a religion practiced by some people and, therefore, the books should be banned because reading them in school violates the constitutional separation of church and state.

"I have a dream that God will be welcomed back in our schools again," Mallory said. "I think we need him."

Right. We want to keep religion out of schools except when it involves God.

[Madspirit]

7. Yup...I noticed that too....n/t

[atreides1]

8. Okay

What special power does the Easter Bunny have?????

[Madspirit]

9. Easter Bunny Question

Does that rabbit steal those eggs from chickens or does it lay them?
Lee

[Jed Dilligan]

25. Homeless guy told me this one

"Why does the Easter Bunny hide the eggs?"

"He doesn't want anyone to know what he's been doing with the chickens."

[Madspirit]

28. Ahhhh

You're just trying to freak me out...<g>
Lee

[Tesha]

15. Oestrogen.

> What special power does the Easter Bunny have?????

The power of Oestre and Oestrogen.

Tesha

[momster]

10. And While She Pursues This Lawsuit

her children are secretly reading HP to see if there's a spell to transport Mom back to her home planet....

[Lobster Martini]

11. I was wondering about the Easter Bunny's power too, but you can't mock everything at once...

"They don't want the Easter Bunny's power..." What the hell is the Easter Bunny's power? Does it fight crime by immobilizing ne'er-do-wells with its laser carrot, or just by reproducing incredibly quickly?

[Jed Dilligan]

26. Yeah, seriously....

What IS the Easter Bunny supposed to do? Just hide eggs? I'm really not clear on this area of our culture.

[sinkingfeeling]

12. I find it sad that an adult woman cannot discern between reality and fiction. Does she really

believe in the Easter Bunny (a fictional character) and why should anybody be concerned about fictional characters at all? Did anybody ask her how children reciting HP's spells worked out? How many kids does she know that can illuminate a room with a wand? Inquiring minds want to know!

[Bitwit1234]

13. If these type of people

want their God in schools so bad. Why don't they send their children to a religious school. Why are they trying to cram their brand of religion down all children's throat.

They must not have paid much attention in American History class. ONE OF THE MAIN REASONS THE people came to this country was freedom of religion. People wanted to practice the religion of their choice. Not the ones the state picked for them.

[zonmoy]

17. Many of them do like my sisters family

unfortunately sending their kids to private school doesn't make them to want to force their religion on people who don't want their religion any less.

[LeftyMom]

14. "The children in our generation want Harry's power, and they're getting it."

That explains the commotion over my house and the quaffle that flew down my chimney. :eyes:

[Tesha]

16. At least it wasn't a rogue blodger! (NT)

[LeftyMom]

19. At least then I'd have an excuse for the state of my den.

:blush:

[Toots]

22. Okay I give, what's a blodger?

Or is a sarcastic post about bloggers that was mispelled? :crazy:

[LeftyMom]

23. It should be bludger, a type of ball in Quidditch, Harry's favorite game.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quidditch

"Quidditch is a fictitious wizarding sport played on broomsticks. It is a popular game among wizards in the series of Harry Potter books by J. K. Rowling.

The game is played by two teams of seven people (three Chasers, two Beaters, a Keeper and a Seeker) and involves four balls (a Quaffle, two Bludgers and a Golden Snitch). The Keeper guards the goal posts, the Chasers score goals with the Quaffle, the Beaters keep the Bludgers away from their team, and the Seeker catches the Golden Snitch. The object of the game is to score more points than your opponent. Each goal is worth ten points, and catching the Snitch is worth one hundred and fifty points. The game ends only when the Snitch is caught, or by mutual consent of the two team captains.

Unlike the vast majority of Muggle sports, Quidditch is entirely unisex. Men and women play together on teams, with neither sex appearing to dominate the sport."

[Tesha]

27. It wasn't deliberate, but...

> Or is a sarcastic post about bloggers that was mispelled? :crazy:

It wasn't deliberate, but it wouldn't be the first time
that my subconscious was way ahead of my conscious mind. ;)

Tesha

[Matariki]

21. oops missed your post ;-)

but it's such a great, insane quote it bears repeating!

[Matariki]

18. She wants to ban the books from PUBLIC LIBRARIES!!!?

If that's the case then I want to ban every damn book that 'promotes' christianity from the same county library. Sheesh.

Man, people like this PISS me off.

[Matariki]

20. "The children in our generation want Harry's power, and they're getting it."

Oh really? Has anyone noticed school children 'getting' the power to fly on brooms yet?

Idiot.

[Madspirit]

24. This woman is a TOTAL Idiot!...n/t

[johnaries]

30. Oooh! I want his invisible cloak! nt

[Q3JR4]

29. The "magic" that takes place in the set of HP books

is something that's interwoven with the story line. I wonder how many books in the library have the same sort of interwoven-ness that comes from a Xian perspective. If she's successful, books like "The Stand" which have an element of a single almighty (Xian) good versus a single almighty evil, could also be subject to the same justification.

If she's successful the ruling can be applied in ways she's not suspecting. I wonder if that registers in her mind. Fundies don't seem to understand that they get NO special treatment. The law applies equally to everyone regardless of religion. She's already called "witchcraft" a religion that shouldn't be sanctioned in public schools. I wonder what she calls her own brand of belief system, a science?

It's just not logical. I guess I'll never understand those people.

[Richard Steele]

31. What a sad life she has.

Sad that her life is so empty that she needs to start acting
out this juvenile, half-assed "mission from Gawd" fantasy.

And just as sad that she can't even be bothered to
KNOW WHAT SHE'S TALKING ABOUT before setting off.

Sad that a person in the USA in 2007 can still have
a head full of the Dark Ages.

I think what I'm getting at is, "sad".

[Lisa]

32. I'm going to buy a copy and donate it to our public library, just for that!

The waiting list is already a couple of hundred people long.