Sacramento Libraries Under Fire for Porn Policy

The Sacramento Public Library Authority Board has denied a religious legal defense group's request to ban porn from library computers.

Sacramento County libraries currently employ filters to block adult content, disabling the software for adult patrons upon request. The library system's internet policy says that it "upholds and affirms the right of each individual to have access to constitutionally protected materials" and leaves it to "parents and legal guardians" to monitor their children's use of library computers.

Lawyers from the right-wing Pacific Justice Institute (an organization acclaimed by the likes of Edwin Meese, Bill O'Reilly and Dr. Laura) pressed the library to impose further restrictions. 

"People know all too well that the pornography doesn't shoot the bullet, but it definitely cocks the trigger," said PJI chief Brad Dacus. "We were asking [the library board] to minimize this risk."

"We're very proactive without resorting to a zero-tolerance policy," Sacramento library director Anne Marie Gold told Sacramento's KCRA News. "In a number of our libraries, we have computers that are totally secluded for viewing."

"The Constitution, certainly, and the First Amendment, protect the rights of speech. Part of that is what happens in your public library," Gold said.

The Public Library Authority Board is expected to resume discussions about the issue in March.

Link: http://www.kcra.com/news/10887813/detail.html