The Arkansas Senate on Wednesday voted to approve SB 81, a proposed law that would create a process whereby public or School librarians would be criminally liable for providing or distributing items deemed “obscene” to minors.

All senators representing parts of Saline County—Kim Hammer, Alan Clark, and Matt McKee—voted for approval. The final vote count was 27-6.

The Bill is now heading to the House of Representatives. In the Senate, voting took place along party lines, with all six Senate Democrats voting against the bill, and all but two Republicans voting in favor of it. The two Republicans, Senators Jane English and Brian King, did not vote.

A spokesman for the Saline County Library reacted to the proposed legislation.

“As Libraries, we do not own legally recognized obscene material. We also respect the First Amendment by giving parents the freedom to choose what is right for their children, not other parents or even librarians. That’s why we encourage parents and guardians to talk to their children often about what they’re reading and set their own limits on what can and can’t be checked by taking them to the library when they can,” said the Engagement Manager public Kari Lapp. .

Clark shared his reasons for voting for the bill. He said that he was not initially happy with the law, but after the amendments to the bill were approved, he believes the bill is more suitable.

“But no one should pass on obscene material, as defined by our courts, to children,” Clarke said.

Clarke said he disagreed with the idea that the government should decide what children can read, especially without parent involvement.

“Parents need to know that if they ask what my child tested, they can be told because they are the last resort,” Clarke added.

During the Senate meeting on Wednesday. Several senators shared their reasons for supporting or disagreeing with the bill.

Democratic Senators Linda Chesterfield of Little Rock and Stephanie Flowers of Pine Bluff noted that the Arkansas Department of Education is already deciding which books can be placed in school libraries.

Chesterfield also expressed concern that the Bible and books on Greek mythology could potentially be considered obscene under this legislation.

“I’m also concerned about the bag of worms that we’re opening,” Chesterfield said. “If we read the Bible, it talks about rape, about incest, the Song of Solomon is very provocative. I don’t want people to say that I don’t need a Bible in the library.”

Republican Senator Dan Sullivan, who sponsored the bill, assured his colleagues that the Bible would not be removed from any library.

Sullivan said his bill aims to codify a system that protects children from receiving items deemed “harmful” from schools and public libraries.

Critics of the bill have expressed concern that the bill violates freedom of speech and the First Amendment to the Constitution. It was also pointed out that not only librarians, but also teachers could be held criminally liable.

Items deemed harmful to minors are defined by the Arkansas bill and code as “materials or performances that depict or describe nudity, sexual conduct, sexual arousal, or sadomasochistic slurs.”

Librarians are now exempt from criminal penalties under Arkansas law for distributing material deemed “harmful to minors.” If the bill is signed into law, it will become law, they will no longer be released and may be prosecuted.

The bill states that a person who willfully distributes to a minor an object containing obscene printed or written material may be convicted of a Class D felony.

The proposed law would create an appeals process for individual members of the public to challenge items in public and school libraries. If a subject is disputed, the law requires schools and libraries to form a committee to review the material and decide what action to take.

The complaint was then sent to either the school board or local elected officials to make the final decision on whether the item should be removed from the libraries. The bill requires the meetings at which these decisions are made to be public.

Sullivan said the goal of this process is to allow communities to resolve these issues locally, leaving the power to take books and other materials from public and school libraries to elected officials.

During a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting on Monday, Senator Clark Tucker of Little Rock referred to the “Miller test,” which is a test developed by the U.S. Supreme Court to determine whether a speech or expression should be considered obscene and therefore not defended. first amendment. Tucker pointed out that Miller’s test is nowhere included in the proposed legislation.

Sullivan said he expected libraries to have their own policies and that he didn’t want to “manage libraries on a micro level”.

Content Source