The American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado sued the Elizabeth School District on Thursday for removing books from school libraries — titles that largely feature people of color or LGBTQ individuals — in an act the organization alleges violated free speech protections. The removed books were voted on by the district’s Board of Education, which the ACLU argued was an injection of the body’s partisan political views into students’ education. “The board’s action is a violation of the students’ constitutional right to receive information, as well as the authors’ right to share their views without undue viewpoint-based discrimination,” said Tim Macdonald, legal director of the ACLU of Colorado, in a news release. “The federal and state constitutions prohibit this kind of politically motivated censorship.” Superintendent Dan Snowberger said in a statement that the Elizabeth School District, located southeast of metro Denver, only learned about the legal claim Thursday afternoon. “We are disappointed that the district is being tied up in a political attack,” he said.