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Arkansas House Approves Bill to Hold Libraries Accountable for 'Obscene' Material
https://www.yahoo.com/news/arkansas-house-approves-bill-hold-123000750.htmlThe Arkansas House approved a proposed law on Wednesday that would open the door to criminal liability for the distribution of “obscene” content by school and public libraries, despite bipartisan opposition.
Seven Republicans joined the 18 House Democrats in voting against Senate Bill 81, including Rep. DeAnn Vaught (R-Horatio), who called the bill “government overreach.”
“I think we might have lost our way down here somewhat,” Vaught said in a lengthy speech on the House floor. “Republicans are supposed to be about local control, and yet here we are again, taking local control away from our counties and cities because of a few bad actors.”
Senate Bill 81 would add the loaning of library materials to the statute governing the possession and distribution of obscene material. Arkansas’ definition of obscenity is “that to the average person, applying contemporary community standards, the dominant theme of the material taken as a whole appeals to prurient interest,” with prurient meaning overtly sexual.
The bill would remove schools and public libraries from the part of Arkansas law that exempts them from prosecution “for disseminating a writing, film, slide, drawing, or other visual reproduction that is claimed to be obscene.”
Seven Republicans joined the 18 House Democrats in voting against Senate Bill 81, including Rep. DeAnn Vaught (R-Horatio), who called the bill “government overreach.”
“I think we might have lost our way down here somewhat,” Vaught said in a lengthy speech on the House floor. “Republicans are supposed to be about local control, and yet here we are again, taking local control away from our counties and cities because of a few bad actors.”
Senate Bill 81 would add the loaning of library materials to the statute governing the possession and distribution of obscene material. Arkansas’ definition of obscenity is “that to the average person, applying contemporary community standards, the dominant theme of the material taken as a whole appeals to prurient interest,” with prurient meaning overtly sexual.
The bill would remove schools and public libraries from the part of Arkansas law that exempts them from prosecution “for disseminating a writing, film, slide, drawing, or other visual reproduction that is claimed to be obscene.”
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