NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  June 24, 2003

CONTACT:  Diane Gramley 1.814.271.9078 or 1.814.437.5355

 

ANTI-PORNOGRAPHY GROUP APPLAUDS U.S. SUPREME COURT FOR CORRECTING ERROR OF PA COURT

 

(Philadelphia) -- Yesterday's overwhelming 6-3 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court will help protect children from exposure to Internet pornography.  "Thanks to this decision a giant step forward has been taken in protecting children across the nation. Libraries that receive federal dollars will have to make the right choice for children and install filters or lose those dollars.  We call on all Pennsylvania public libraries that do not already filter Internet access to do so immediately," American Family Association of Pennsylvania director, Diane Gramley, said.

 

In March 2001, with the help of the ACLU, the American Library Association, Planned Parenthood and safersex.org, among others, filed suit in the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia. They claimed that requiring filters violated free speech and the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA), which was signed into law by President Bill Clinton on December 21, 2000, should be declared unconstitutional.   In May 2002 the 3rd Circuit Court sided with the ALA and struck CIPA down.  "How many children were needlessly exposed to Internet porn in their public library because the 3rd Circuit Court here in Pennsylvania made the wrong decision last year?  The Supreme Court has confirmed that the government has a compelling interest in protecting children from Internet pornography.  Those are not safe waters out there with as many as 200 new porn sites added to the Internet each day, our children need protecting and filters on library computers will go a long way in doing just that," continued Gramley.

 

Yesterday's Supreme Court ruling reinstated CIPA, which requires federally financed libraries to use filtering devices to block obscene material, child pornography and other sites that could be harmful to minors. The government argued that libraries do not have X-rated magazines and movies on their shelves, thus should not have to offer access to Internet pornography.  Obviously, the Supreme Court justices agreed and did not view filters as a great burden on free speech.

 

The problem with Internet pornography in public libraries has even brought lawsuits from librarians who have charged that they were forced to work in a sexually hostile work environment.  On May 24, 2001 the EEOC in Minneapolis determined that the Minneapolis Public Library violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and in March 2003 a federal lawsuit was filed by a dozen female employees of the library.  They allege that the pornography freely available on the library computers is attracting hard-core male pornography users who act in a threatening and abusive manner. The male patrons publicly masturbate while viewing the pornographic websites and this has added to the hostile environment in which the female employees work.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/01technology/01CYBERLAW.html?pagewanted=print

 

The American Library Association has consistently attempted to block filters under the ruse of freedom of speech.  The official ALA statement, "Access to Electronic Information, Services, and Networks:  An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights" declares that libraries "must support access to information on all subjects that serve the needs or interests of each user, regardless of the user's age or the content of the material."

 

http://www.ala.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Our_Association/Offices/Intellectual_Freedom
3/Statements_and_Policies/Intellectual_Freedom2/Interpretations/accesstoelectronic.pdf

 

 Judith Krug of the ALA not only seems to feel that pornography is not harmful to children, but feels that reading Playboy should be an acceptable past time for children and states that parents who object "don't really care about their kids growing up and learning to think and explore."

 

"Yesterday's decision is landmark.  Taxpayers no longer have to pay for the access of pornography at public libraries.  Library patrons and employees will not be so readily exposed to the dangerous situations that pornography can create.  Interesting that despite the ALA, a January 15, 2002 Library Journal's Budget Report found that 43% of the 355 libraries participating in the survey had filtered Internet use.  The U.S. Supreme Court's decision yesterday will force the other public libraries in the nation to re-evaluate their policies and make the right decision for not only children, but all their patrons," stated Gramley.

 

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