Georgia mother wants to remove "evil" Harry Potter books from school library

Gwinnett County, GA— Laura Mallory, a mother of four, told a hearing officer for the Gwinnett County Board of Education on Tuesday that the popular Harry Potter book series is an "evil" attempt to indoctrinate children in the Wicca religion. Board of Education attorney Victoria Sweeny said that if schools were to remove all books containing reference to witches, they would have to ban Macbeth and Cinderella. Mallory began her crusade in September 2005, requesting the books removed from her children's school, J.C. Magill Elementary. In April 2006, Mallory and her supporters said the books needed to go because the stories are dark, violent and inappropriate for children, completely unlike stories from William Shakespeare or the Bible. The Gwinnett school board in May unanimously ruled in favor of the books.