ROXBURY - It was a case about alleged sexy books in school, but it was really a case about free speech. And free speech won.

A suit by the Roxbury High School librarian against residents who she said had defamed her was dismissed last Friday by Judge Jonathan Romankow in state Superior Court, Morristown.

By granting the defendants' application for summary judgement, the judge ended a case - at least on this level - that began more than two years ago.

The case emanated out of one town in western Morris County, but the issue of "porn" in school reverberates across the nation.

Roxanna Caivano, the librarian, claimed she was maliciously and improperly attacked over some of the books available in the high school library. Most, if not all of the books in question, involved gay issues.

Passionate school board meetings about this topic are common, but Caivano brought things to another forum.

Represented by her husband, who is a lawyer, the librarian sued four residents for "defamatory" comments made either in public or online.

The four were Kristen Cobo, Christina Balestriere, Thomas Seretis and Katrina Albo.

From the outset, the plaintiff's obstacle was the free speech rights of the defendants - a principle that the judge's decision upheld.

Albo eventually settled the case on terms that have not been disclosed, but the action continued against the other three defendants.

Just prior to last week's hearing, a court-appointed arbitrator said he found no liability on the part of Seretis and Balestriere, although he wrote that some of Balestriere's comments were a bit "mean-spirited."

Still, he said they represented her opinion.

But the arbitrator wrote that some of the remarks by Cobo were defamatory. He referred to such comments as "luring children,"

"behavior of (a) child predator," and "This woman is a danger." He said they crossed the line from opinion to personal attack. He suggested a damage award of $1,000 to the librarian.

However, the judge's decision granting summary judgement and dismissing the suit made that moot.