Santa Clarita Mom Outraged at Porn in Library

All library porn all the time may be an appropriate subtitle for this blog. The problem is serious and it is wide-spread. The latest reported incident occurred in Santa Clarita, California. Please note the same old lame rationalized excuses from the librarians.

According to the Santa Clarita Signal [emphasis added]:

A Santa Clarita mother who took her 4-year-old daughter to the library for a learning experience was outraged by pornography on a computer screen in plain view of her child, she said Wednesday.

But county library officials said they can do nothing to halt such uses of library computers because visitors have a First Amendment right to view pornographic material.

Lorrie Holguin said the incident last week was doubly offensive, because the computer in question was just 10 feet or so from the children's section in the Canyon Country Library.

Holguin said she had escorted her daughter to play games on the computer when she "noticed the man sitting next to us was viewing very graphic, harsh pornography."

"I was absolutely horrified!" she wrote in a letter to Santa Clarita Mayor Cameron Smyth.

Holguin said she immediately approached library officials and was told by a worker at the information desk that there were no restrictions on computer content.

"The children have to walk by the computers to get to their section," Holguin said.

Nancy Mahr, spokeswoman for the county public library system, said staff members cannot stop visitors from using computers to view pornography.

"We do try to place (the computers) in fairly public areas for staff to view them," Mahr said.

If staff members see someone viewing pornography, they may approach the individual and remind him or her that libraries are public places. But they cannot stop the person from viewing the material, Mahr said.

"It is a First Amendment issue," she said. "The Supreme Court ruled that they have the right to view what they want ... as long as it is not illegal,"

To control content would be censorship, she said.

If the Santa Clarita Public Library is receiving federal funds, then there is something that can be done. the CIPA (Children's Internet Protection Act) states:

IN GENERAL.--Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration shall initiate a notice and comment proceeding for purposes of&endash;

(1) evaluating whether or not currently available technology protection measures, including commercial Internet blocking and filtering software, adequately addresses the needs of educational institutions;

(2) making recommendations on how to foster the development of measures that meet such needs; and

(3) evaluating the development and effectiveness of local Internet safety policies that are currently in operation after community input.

DEFINITIONS.--In this section:

TECHNOLOGY PROTECTION MEASURE.--The term ``technology protection measure'' means a specific technology that blocks or filters Internet access to visual depictions that are&endash;

(A) obscene, as that term is defined in section 1460 of title 18, United States Code;

(B) child pornography, as that term is defined in section 2256 of title 18, United States Code; or

(C) harmful to minors.

(2) HARMFUL TO MINORS.--The term ``harmful to minors'' means any picture, image, graphic image file, or other visual depiction that--

(A) taken as a whole and with respect to minors, appeals to a prurient interest in nudity, sex, or excretion;

(B) depicts, describes, or represents, in a patently offensive way with respect to what is suitable for minors, an actual or simulated sexual act or sexual contact, actual or simulated normal or perverted sexual acts, or a lewd exhibition of the genitals; and

(C) taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value as to minors.
[...]

So, either the Santa Clarita librarians are not telling the truth about their inability to limit pornography on their computers, or they are woefully ignorant. Either way, the citizens of Santa Clarita should demand that something be done to protect children from such abuse.