Maryland Judge Orders Harford Schools to Keep Flamer on the Shelves

A Maryland judge has ordered the Harford County school board to put Mike Curato's graphic novel Flamer back on library shelves. A Harford County Circuit Court judge ruled from the bench on Thursday, October 22. Maryland Matters reported the ruling on Saturday and called it the first legal test of the state's Freedom to Read Act.

The Baltimore Banner covered the hearing. It reported that the judge said the removal violates the Freedom to Read Act and the First Amendment. "This court finds that the decision by the state board was not arbitrary, unreasonable or illegal," she said. Maryland Matters says she upheld a 2025 decision by the Maryland State Board of Education that the local board was wrong to take the book out. PT has not reviewed a written opinion.

The statute

Maryland's Freedom to Read Act, passed in 2024, is meant to stop schools from removing library materials because of an author's background or because of "partisan, ideological or religious disapproval," Maryland Matters reports.

Del. Dana Jones, a Democrat from Anne Arundel County and the law's lead sponsor, said in a statement released by the House speaker's office: "When we passed this landmark law, we made a commitment that books would not be removed from our libraries simply because of partisan, ideological, or religious objections." She added: "Parents have every right to make decisions about what their own children read, but no single individual or school board should be able to make that decision for every family." Maryland Matters said the county board had not commented by Friday.

The complaint and the review

Flamer is Curato's semi-autobiographical novel about a boy at camp the summer before high school, dealing with sexuality, religion, bullying, and thoughts of suicide, Maryland Matters reports.

A parent complained in November 2024. Citing state school board documents, Maryland Matters says she had not read the whole book, and worried the parts she saw did not "meet the values of the community … and plants seeds in the heads of children that not only are trying to find themselves but could also be experiencing mental health challenges." The documents also say she thought the book "does not reveal local resources that may be out there for those struggling with their identity."

The county uses a nine-member reconsideration subcommittee of parents, students, educators, and a community member. Members are supposed to read the entire work, professional reviews, and award lists before voting to keep a book, move it, or remove it. The superintendent decides.

They met in March 2025. Maryland Matters says the book includes "scenes with partial nudity, use of profanity, exploration of sexual identity and homosexuality, instances of bullying, suicidal ideation, and masturbation." The committee found those scenes were not excessive and were "contextually appropriate," and that the book's literary and artistic merits would appeal to students. It voted to keep Flamer in high school libraries, including schools that combine middle and high school grades. On May 15, 2025, the superintendent accepted that and told the parent the book had "literary and artistic merit, educational and community value, and professional recognition."

The board, then the state

The parent appealed. The board met in private and on July 1, 2025, announced a 5-3 vote, with one abstention, to remove the book. Maryland Matters says the board cited a failure to weigh age-appropriateness, plus "extensive profanity, sexual situations and demeaning observations of females," and said it acted "on the pervasive vulgarity and the novels' absence of educational suitability."

Parents, a local advocacy group, and the Harford County Education Association took the vote to the state board, which reversed the county. A November 4, 2025, opinion, quoted by Maryland Matters, says: "Where the Reconsideration Sub-committee received training and took detailed notes on a book that all members were required to read in full, there is nothing in the record that indicates the local board members even read the book beyond some choice passages, which were not identified." The opinion adds: "Nor did the local board provide any evidence of how the Reconsideration Sub-committee's review was inconsistent with the Evaluation Procedure."

The county board challenged that opinion in circuit court and lost on Thursday. The Banner quotes the state board's order to "reverse the decision of the local board and find that the local superintendent's decision to retain 'Flamer' in HCPS secondary school libraries stands."

Thursday's hearing

Gregory Szoka, the board's lawyer, argued that checking procedure is the board's job, that the committee vote was not binding, and that the board used its "collective understanding" to find the book not appropriate. The Banner reported that the judge said the decision cannot be based on that "collective understanding." "It's got to be following what the state law is," she said.

Erika Jacobsen White, representing parent Leslie Thompson, told the judge: "It was the local board that violated the Freedom to Read Act and the First Amendment." The Banner reports that the judge said the board should have asked whether former superintendent Sean Bulson's decision to keep the book was arbitrary, unreasonable, or illegal. Instead, she said, members inserted personal feelings about the content.

What writers' groups said

PEN America responded on October 23. Philomena Polefrone, senior manager of Freedom to Read, said: "We are heartened that Flamer remains on school shelves in Harford County." She called the novel "a light to LGBTQ+ young people showing them that they can survive bullying and hatred," and said the review committee "voted unanimously to keep it on the shelves before the school board overruled them."

Sonia Kumar, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Maryland, which argued the case, called the ruling "a victory for the freedom to read" in a Friday statement quoted by Maryland Matters. "This historic decision affirms the promise of Maryland's Freedom to Read Act and the First Amendment: students deserve access to books that reflect the richness of our experiences, identities, and perspectives, free from censorship," she said.

The reports do not say whether Harford will appeal. PT has already reported a separate federal case, on deposing Florida school board members over book removals.

Sources

• Maryland Matters, October 24, 2026: Judge orders Harford school board to put banned book back on library shelves
• The Baltimore Banner, October 22, 2026: Judge rules Harford County schools must keep 'Flamer' on library shelves
• PEN America, October 23, 2026: PEN America Applauds Court Decision to Keep Novel Flamer on Shelves in Harford County, MD High Schools