In the 1981 case Board of Education, Island Trees Union Free School District No. 26 v. Pico, the U.S Supreme Court ruled in a plurality decision that school boards cannot ban books from school libraries simply because they dislike their content or disagree with their ideas. The case was brought by high school student Steven Pico after his local board of education removed nine books it deemed "anti-American" and "offensive" from its library shelves without following any established procedures for such removals. In its ruling, the court held that while schools have broad discretion to determine what materials should be included in their curricula, this power does not extend to limiting students' access to different viewpoints once those materials are part of a library's collection.

In the dissenting opinion for Board of Education, Island Trees Union Free School District No. 26 v. Pico (1981), Justice William Rehnquist argued that the majority's decision to allow students to challenge a school board's book removals was misguided and overstepped judicial boundaries. He contended that it is not within the Court’s purview to dictate what books schools should include in their libraries, as this responsibility falls under local school boards' discretion based on community standards and educational objectives. Furthermore, he expressed concern about potential negative implications of this ruling on future decisions regarding curriculum content or teaching methods which could be challenged by students claiming infringement upon First Amendment rights. In essence, Rehnquist believed that such matters are best left to educators rather than courts.