At the most recent Iredell school board meeting on January 8th, Mrs. Paula Mimnaugh read excerpts from two books, A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah Maas and Identical by Ellen Hopkins, both having horrendous and pervasive obscene contents. She read the excerpts solely to raise concern about the age-inappropriate literature that public school students are permitted to read through their public library access accounts that are automatically set up for them by the Iredell school system.
When her limited time to speak expired, School Board Chairman Howell, in an obviously prepared statement, cited a state statute (143-318.17), and warned Mrs. Mimnaugh that she could be arrested for publicly using vulgar language. However the objectionable language she used was only while reading excerpts from the books—books that high school children are perfectly free to read.
Several times in the past, Howell has vociferously objected to public speakers reading excerpts from obscenity-containing grooming books found in multiple county middle and high school libraries. His usual response is to attack the messenger rather than the message.
Howell’s threat to Paula Mimnaugh was no more than an obvious effort to restrict her First Amendment right to free speech. The issue of pervasively obscene, pornographic and pedophilic literature freely available to children in schools apparently doesn’t concern him.
Several days later, we learned that either Chairman Howell or Supervisor James had filed a complaint against Mrs. Mimnaugh, initiating an investigation by the Troutman Police Department. We only learned about the formal complaint in an article obviously leaked to the Iredell Free News. Another devious example of cowardly attacking the messenger instead of addressing the message.
After consulting with the Iredell County Sheriff’s office, we learned that the state statute Howell cited to threaten Mrs. Mimnaugh doesn’t actually apply to public reading of objectionable citations from books and doesn’t even mention vulgar language. N.C. General Statute §143-318.17 addresses disruption of public meetings and refusal to exit the meeting, events that never occurred at the school board meeting.
—————————————-
N.C. General Statute §143-318.17. Disruptions of official meetings. A person who willfully interrupts, disturbs, or disrupts an official meeting and who, upon being directed to leave the meeting by the presiding officer, willfully refuses to leave the meeting is guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor.
– Edward Mimnaugh
