by Matthew Holloway | Sep 14, 2025 | Education, News
By Matthew Holloway |
A dozen Maricopa County libraries have removed more than 50 books on sex education and puberty from their children’s sections. The move follows complaints from parents and advocacy groups who said the books contained inappropriate material.
As previously reported by AZ Free News, the Maricopa County Library District (MCLD) has been subject to increasing criticism from parents’ rights advocates like Arizona Women of Action (AZWOA) and EZAZ, who engaged with the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors (BOS) in June. The groups objected to books such as “It’s Perfectly Normal” by Robie H. Harris and “This Book Is Gay” by Juno Dawson for the titles’ graphic depictions of sex and sexual behavior.
Responding to a petition launched by AZWOA, the BOS approved a pilot program at the Queen Creek Library, allowing parents to submit a form listing books their children may not check out.
According to AZCentral, the Board later directed the books to be relocated in response to the concerns brought to them. Due to the administrative nature of the move, a formal vote was not required. Supervisor Steve Gallardo, the board’s only Democrat, expressed objections to the outlet, saying, “Call it whatever you want … it’s wrong, and we shouldn’t be engaging in this.” Gallardo claimed that although he “agreed with some of the changes,” parents should be responsible for monitoring their children in the libraries.
Republican Supervisors Lesko, Stewart, and Brophy McGee supported the measure fully, stating that the measure is intended to:
- “Protect our youngest from their prying eyes and curiosity,” per Stewart.
- “Relocate questionable books into areas of the library that are less, or not, accessible to children,” according to Brophy-McGee.
- “Make sure that sexually explicit library books are out of the reach of minors,” as described by Lesko.
As reported by the Arizona Daily Independent, several books were brought to the BOS’s attention, though the complete list of inappropriate books is extensive. The AZWOA referred to a book rating site, ratedbooks.org, as well as a book list on Scottsdaleunites.com.
Merissa Hamilton of EZAZ later posted a list of egregious books found on MCLD shelves. Highlighted titles include “It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, and Sexual Health” by Robie H. Harris, which features cartoon-like drawings with sexually graphic information. “This Book Is Gay” by Juno Dawson is also in question because it instructs children on how to engage in meetups for casual sexual encounters. Novels by Ellen Hopkins graphically depict sex, human trafficking, and abuse. These books may violate state statutes, including ARS 13-3506:
“It is unlawful for any person, with knowledge of the character of the item involved, to recklessly furnish, present, provide, make available, give, lend, show, advertise, or distribute to minors any item that is harmful to minors. C. A violation of this section is a Class 4 felony.”
These library books may also violate ARS 13-3507:
“A. It is unlawful for any person knowingly to place explicit sexual material upon public display or knowingly to fail to take prompt action to remove such a display from property in his possession or under his control after learning of its existence. B. A person who violates any provision of this section is a Class 6 felony.
The potential prompted citizens to consider bringing these books to the attention of the county’s sheriff and attorney’s offices.
County Manager Jen Pokorski told Republic reporters in June that the county is contemplating a new rule, a new “software solution” which would permit parents to restrict their children’s access to different books by category.
“I think the goal of the new software would be, the books that we’ve deemed — or that have illustrative pornography, will be off limits to children under a certain age,” Supervisor Mark Stewart explained. “And then anything that a parent would want to opt their child into, they’re welcome to sign up and do that.”
However, he did clarify, to the Arizona Republic, “I did not say that sex-ed books are illustrative pornography.”
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
by Jonathan Eberle | Jun 18, 2025 | Education, News
By Jonathan Eberle |
The Maricopa County Library District (MCLD) is facing growing scrutiny from parents and advocacy groups over concerns that sexually explicit books are being displayed in the youth sections of its libraries. Organizations like AZ Women of Action (AZWOA) and EZAZ, along with dozens of local residents, are urging county officials to take stronger action to protect children and support parental rights.
The issue reached a boiling point this spring when residents raised their concerns directly with the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors (BOS). In response, Supervisors Debbie Lesko and Mark Stewart held meetings with AZWOA representatives, signaling that the county may be preparing to address the controversy more directly.
MCLD, which oversees 15 libraries serving the nation’s fourth-most populous county, currently follows a Collection Development Policy that emphasizes community demand and diversity. The policy also defers to parents and guardians on what materials their children borrow, and explicitly avoids labeling materials based on their content or philosophy. Critics argue this approach lacks adequate safeguards.
At the center of the debate are specific books flagged as inappropriate by advocacy groups. Titles such as “It’s Perfectly Normal” by Robie H. Harris and “This Book Is Gay” by Juno Dawson have drawn sharp criticism for what opponents say are graphic depictions of sex and sexual behavior that are not suitable for minors. Novels by author Ellen Hopkins, which explore themes of sexual abuse and trafficking, have also been cited as problematic.
Advocates point to Arizona statutes—ARS 13-3506 and ARS 13-3507—which make it a felony to knowingly provide sexually explicit materials to minors or display such materials in public. Some residents have called on the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office and County Attorney’s Office to investigate whether the library’s practices violate these laws.
“The goal isn’t censorship,” said Merissa Hamilton of EZAZ. “It’s about ensuring age-appropriate content and preserving a parent’s right to guide their children’s upbringing.”
In recent weeks, AZWOA has launched a petition asking the BOS to move explicit titles from youth sections to adult areas and to consider implementing a rating system. Books rated three or higher on a five-point scale would require parental permission before being borrowed by minors.
As a partial response, the BOS approved a pilot program at the Queen Creek Library. The program allows parents to submit a form listing books their children may not check out. However, critics argue the system is cumbersome and poorly publicized, making it ineffective.
The future of library policy in Maricopa County remains uncertain, but one thing is clear: a growing number of residents are demanding more say in what books their children can access—and they’re not backing down.
Jonathan Eberle is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Staff Reporter | Apr 17, 2025 | News
By Staff Reporter |
All of Arizona’s 15 counties are now undertaking efforts to remove any illegal aliens from their voter rolls following a lawsuit filed by America First Legal (AFL), a right-wing nonprofit.
There is no certainty as to how many — if any — illegal aliens exist on Arizona’s voter rolls. There are nearly 50,000 individuals registered to vote in the state that only vote in federal races because they did not provide proof of citizenship. These voters are known as “federal-only” voters.
AFL filed its lawsuit last year and secured settlements in waves, first from Yavapai and Mohave counties last year and then the remaining counties last week. Per a press release from AFL on Monday, all 15 county recorders are now obtaining assistance from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to verify the citizenship status of all registered voters who have not provided proof of citizenship.
AFL explained it filed the lawsuit because it believed the county recorders were not “utilizing all available resources” for citizenship verification, despite Arizona law requiring monthly voter roll maintenance to purge noncitizen voters; federal law also permits state and local to seek confirmation of citizenship status.
AFL senior counsel James Rogers expressed further confidence in Arizona’s election integrity going forward with these settlements.
“This settlement is a great result for all Arizonans. This will help County Recorders find and remove any aliens on their voter rolls,” said Rogers. “It will also potentially enfranchise federal-only voters whose citizenship is confirmed, which would allow them to vote in State and local elections. AFL congratulates each of Arizona’s 15 County Recorders for taking this bold and important step for election integrity in the State.”
AFL filed the lawsuit on behalf of Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona, also known as “EZAZ,” and registered voter Yvonne Cahill.
As reported by AZ Free News, there were over 11,600 federal-only voters who cast a ballot in the 2020 presidential election.
On the day of his inauguration earlier this year, President Donald Trump issued an executive order requiring the DHS secretary and personnel to equip state and local governments with all necessary resources and tools to secure confirmation of citizenship and immigration status. Trump followed up this directive with another executive order last month directing DHS to share its citizenship and immigration status database with states.
Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap said he plans on complying with the settlement once he secures an IT team.
“We will have transparency in our elections. We will have integrity. One citizen, one vote. But I am unable to do that when the office of the Recorder is being deliberately gutted by insiders who like the status quo…” said Heap. “I wasn’t elected to beg unelected bureaucrats for the right to carry out the will of the voters and my statutory duties. Maricopa County needs to stop playing games and let me do my job.”
Heap was referring to an ongoing disagreement with the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors over the reduction of his office’s authorities under an agreement executed months before Heap took office.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Matthew Holloway | Feb 28, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
A series of posts to X on Tuesday sparked a firestorm of controversy when Merissa Hamilton of Strong Communities Action-EZAZ.org made a bombshell allegation that Maricopa County Election officials were made well aware of the potential for printing and supply issues during the 2022 statewide elections. Hamilton alleged that county officials moved forward without addressing the issues, citing a series of emails detailing the Maricopa County GOP raising concerns to then-Recorder Stephen Richer and Maricopa County Board of Supervisors’ Election Manager Scott Jarrett.
The post gained national attention when it was shared by X owner and de facto head of the Department of Government Efficiency Elon Musk.
In the initial post Hamilton wrote, “Remember in 2022 when the nearly 70% of voting centers in Maricopa County failed on Election Day causing massive, long lines and voter disenfranchisement resulting in @KariLake and @AbrahamHamadeh barely losing? Maricopa County knew in advance their Election Day plan was set up for failure, and THEY LET IT FAIL!”
Hamilton noted that the emails were obtained for Strong Communities Action by The Gavel Project and civil rights activist and Arizona election attorney Ryan Heath saying, “Without his legal muscle we wouldn’t have secured it!”
In the thread that followed, Hamilton released several emails from then-Chairwoman of the Maricopa County Republican Committee Mickie Niland to Richer and Jarrett saying, “I remember hearing from Scott (Jarrett) at some point after the primary that there was a problem during the primary with some tabulators not reading correctly due to low ink. How long does it take you to get paper or ink to them if they run out? Is there a process for the voting locations to report when they are half out of paper? How far are the restocking trucks from the voting centers? Are you using the length of the lines to help you determine when more supplies are brought to the centers?“ She also asked if there was any way she could help.
Jarrett responded, “We’ve been monitoring turnout and are prepared,” adding that there was plenty of ballot paper and normal paper to print control slips as well as “sufficient toner and printer drums.”
Hamilton explained, “Several days ahead of Election Day, the Maricopa County GOP leadership warned Maricopa County that their Election Day plan would fail and disenfranchise voters. The Maricopa County BOS Election Director Scott Jarrett insisted everything would be fine saying he was ‘confident.’”
Niland, representing the Maricopa County GOP, even followed up with an email warning, “Trust is low and voting in person is the topic everyone wants to discuss with us. To us if you are basing your decisions off of history, we think things are different now.” Niland added, “Please consider this email the official raising of that flag.”
According to an investigation of the 2022 Maricopa County Election, former Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Ruth McGregor found that “many of the Oki B432 printers were not capable of reliably printing 20-inch ballots on 100-pound paper under election-day conditions.”
McGregor added, “The combined effect of the heavy paper, longer ballot, and intermittent burst of print demand pushed the printers to perform at the very edge of or past their capability, so that any decrease in fuser performance in an individual printer could result in problems.”
Replying to the post by Musk, Hamilton thanked the X owner for “bringing attention to this vital matter!” She also raised allegations that Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chairman Thomas Galvin has blocked newly elected County Recorder Justin Heap from accessing “the IT staff and responsibilities assigned to him in AZ law to secure and run our elections!”
Later in the afternoon, Maricopa County published a post to X that outlined the October 2024 agreement, which demarcated the election responsibilities of the Board of Supervisors and the Recorder’s Office. Galvin shared the post as well.
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
by Staff Reporter | Feb 6, 2025 | Education, News
By Staff Reporter |
It’s taken the better part of a year for vigilant Scottsdale parents, but the vulgar books they discovered will no longer be in their district’s libraries.
Last July, Scottsdale mom Jill Dunican wrote to the Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) governing board about 17 books allegedly containing “vulgar or educationally unsuitable content.” Dunican wrote on behalf of several advocacy organizations and individuals: Scottsdale Unites for Educational Integrity, Arizona Women of Action, Restore Parental Rights in Education, Protect Arizona Children Coalition, A Legal Process, Not In Our Schools, Shiry Sapir, Dan Kleinman (SafeLibraries), EZAZ, Save CFSD, Kids First, Mom Army, and Moms For Liberty.
The contested books were “A Stolen Life” by Jaycee Dugard; “Doomed” and “Haunted” by Chuck Palahniuk; “Lucky” by Alice Sebold; “PUSH” by Sapphire; “Sold” by Patrick McCormick; “Tricks,” “Perfect,” “People Kill People,” “Identical,” and “Smoke” by Ellen Hopkins; “Icebreaker” by Hannah Grace; “A Court of Frost and Starlight” by Sara J. Maas; “Anatomy of a Boyfriend” and “Anatomy of a Single Girl” by Daria Snadowsky; “Breathless” by Jennifer Niven; “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” by Jesse Andrews; and “Lawn Boy” by Jonathan Evison.
Most of these books were only available at the various high schools within the district. One contested title — “Sold” — was available at the Desert Canyon K-8 school.
In her letter to the board, Dunican claimed these books violated Arizona’s laws on furnishing harmful items to minors and Arizona’s parental bill of rights.
“The negative impacts of vulgar material on children include: ‘greater acceptance of sexual harassment, sexual activity at an early age, acceptance of negative attitudes to women, unrealistic expectations, skewed attitudes of gender roles, greater levels of body dissatisfaction, rape myths, and sexual aggression,’ as well as sexual risk taking, mental health problems, decreased academic performance and detachment from family and friends,” wrote Dunican.
SUSD agreed. Following a temporary pull of the books and investigation by a review committee, SUSD found that nearly all of the contested books needed to be kept out of circulation permanently — meaning these texts violated Arizona laws on furnishing harmful materials to minors.
Last Friday, SUSD advised Dunican of the removal of 15 of the 17 contested books. The district determined the other two books — “Sold” and “Stolen Life” — may remain in circulation under the condition of parental consent for checkouts.
In a response email to Dunican, SUSD director Kim Dodds Keran added that the 15 books to be removed from circulation had “very limited circulation,” meaning they were checked out five or fewer times over the past three years.
In an email shared with AZ Free News, Dunican asked SUSD to adopt a policy complementing Arizona law prohibiting public schools from referring students to or using sexually explicit material in any manner.
This law maintains exemptions for works that possess “serious educational value” or “artistic, literary, political, or scientific value.” In those cases, schools must obtain written parental consent on a per-material basis.
Dunican suggested the proposed SUSD policy could have librarians rely on rating services to review book ratings ahead of book purchases.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
