IP: Libertarian Party sues over Ventura County library filtering

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

> From Politec




To: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>


>   Los Angeles Times      
>   Saturday, March 21, 1998
>
>
>   Libraries' Ban on Internet Porn Sparks Lawsuit
>
>       Courts: Libertarian Party says county system's rules violate 1st
>   Amendment. Patrons are required to sign a form promising not to view
>   sex sites.
>
>   By SCOTT HADLY, Times Staff Writer
>
>       Free speech advocates in Ventura County are knocking heads with
>       county officials over an attempt to keep Internet surfers away
>       from pornography at public libraries.
>            Ventura County's library system requires users of branch
>       computer terminals to sign a form promising they will not view
>       sexually explicit material. But such a requirement is
>       unconstitutional, says the Libertarian Party of Ventura County in
>       a lawsuit filed March 3.
>            The restrictions violate the 1st Amendment rights of library
>       patrons, said attorney William John Weilbacher.
>            "This isn't about the merits of pornography," said
>       Weilbacher, who filed the suit. "It's about the government having
>       no business saying what you can and cannot look at."
>            The suit is one of many that have sprouted up across the
>       nation that pit civil libertarians against public libraries that
>       attempt to keep smut off their public-access terminals.
>            Public libraries in Kern County in February ended a policy of
>       using software filters to block access to sexually explicit
>       Internet sites after threats of a lawsuit by the American Civil
>       Liberties Union.
>            A similar case is now pending in Orange County, and in
>       Virginia a library agency vowed to fight all the way to the
>       Supreme Court a challenge to its policy of blocking access to
>       pornography.
>            While many filters effectively block out pornography, they
>       also can block out sites that have information on such things as
>       AIDS and breast cancer, opponents argue.
>            Last year the American Library Assn. adopted a resolution
>       condemning the use of filter programs to block constitutionally
>       protected speech.
>            Weilbacher said even though the Ventura library system does
>       not have a computer filtering system, the rules that require
>       patrons to sign a form saying they will not access certain sites
>       is going too far.
>            "The general rule is that the government is not allowed to
>       regulate speech," he said. "It's perfectly fine to regulate
>       unlawful speech like child pornography, but they're crossing the
>       threshold by restricting adults from viewing what is legal."
>            Eleven members of the Libertarian Party of Ventura County are
>       listed as plaintiffs on the case, including Andrea Nagy, who
>       recently attempted to open the county's first club to dispense


>       medicinal marijuana.
[...]




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