US judge overturns Cuba book ban

A judge has temporarily overturned a decision by Miami's school board to ban a controversial children's book about Cuba from school libraries.

He said the book must stay on the shelves until a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida (ACLU) against the school board is settled.

Last month, the board voted to remove the book after complaints it was too positive about life under Fidel Castro.

ACLU says the school board violated the US constitution with its ban.

The Miami-Dade school authorities had removed all 24 books in the series, dealing with children living around the world.

'Errors of omission'

The Miami-Dade Student Government Association and the ACLU said removing the book violated students' constitutional right of access to information under the First Amendment.

"By totally banning the Cuba books and the rest of the series, the school board is in fact prohibiting even the voluntary consideration of the themes contained in the books by students at their leisure," said US District Judge Alan Gold.

"This goes to the heart of the First Amendment issue," he said.

Judge Gold gave the school until the end of the day to put the books it had removed from the shelves back in the library.

Juan Amador Rodriguez, the parent who had complained about the book, said he was surprised and disappointed at the judge's decision.

"The book has errors. It has errors of omission, omission about the reality of the country," Mr Amador said.