Bill Filed to Address Obscenity and Material Harmful to Minors

Decency, , , ,

A proposal at the Arkansas Legislature would make it easier to prosecute a person who gives pornographic or obscene material to children.

S.B. 81 by Sen. Dan Sullivan (R – Russellville) and Rep. Justin Gonzales (R – Okolona) generally makes it a crime to give or send “material harmful to minors” to a child.

The bill defines “material harmful to minors” to include sexual material that contains nudity or sexual activity.

The bill also eliminates exemptions for libraries and schools in the state’s obscenity statute — which would make it easier to prosecute a librarian or public school employee who distributes obscene material — and it creates a civil cause of action Arkansans can use if the state, a city, or a county distributes obscene material.

Taken together, the changes that S.B. 81 makes to Arkansas law could help address pornographic and obscene material in public libraries in Arkansas.

As we have written before, the Jonesboro public library has been at the center of multiple controversies over its decision to place books with sexually-explicit images in its children’s section while failing to adopt a policy that separates sexual material from children’s content.

Library officials have stood by their decision to share sexual material with children. The library even posted on Facebook that it isn’t the library’s responsibility to protect kids from obscenity.

Other public libraries in Arkansas have failed to separate sexual material from children’s material as well.

Public libraries are supposed to be for everyone. More and more, Family Council is hearing from people who are deeply troubled by the obscene children’s books that librarians have placed on the shelves of their local libraries.

Proposals like S.B. 81 could help protect children and families from patently inappropriate material in public libraries.

You Can Read S.B. 81 Here.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Bill Would Require Porn Sites to Institute Age Verification

Decency, Legislation, ,

On Tuesday Sen. Tyler Dees (R – Siloam Springs) filed S.B. 66 requiring pornographic websites to implement an age verification process to protect children from pornography.

The measure is similar to a Louisiana law that has caused major porn websites to start verifying that users are over the age of 18.

S.B. 66 requires pornographic websites to verify users are 18 or older using a government-issued ID or a commercially available method to check a person’s age.

In practice, this means pornographic websites would rely on IDs like state driver’s licenses or some sort of third-party software to prevent minors from accessing pornographic material online.

Technology has given children unprecedented access to pornography. Among other things, pornography is believed to contribute to mental health problems.

We need to take steps to protect kids from pornography and other harmful material.

Read S.B. 66 Here.

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Craighead County to Vote on Reducing Millage for Library that Features Sexually Explicit Children’s Books

Decency, Library, , , ,

This November voters in Craighead County will decide whether to reduce the millage for the public library in Jonesboro.

The Jonesboro public library has been at the center of multiple controversies for nearly a year and a half — such as inappropriately hosting an LGBT Pride display in its children’s library, placing books with sexually-explicit images in its children’s section, and failing to adopt a policy that separates sexual material from children’s content.

Some of these books — such as Gender Queer and l8tr, g8tr — contain explicit images or descriptions of teens engaged in sexual acts.

Library officials have stood by their decision to share sexual material with children — even posting on Facebook that it isn’t the library’s responsibility to protect kids from obscenity.

The Jonesboro Sun reports that this November voters in Craighead County will decide whether or not to reduce the library’s millage from two mills to one mill.

Under Amendment 30 and Amendment 38 to the Arkansas Constitution, voters can circulate petitions to place a measure on the local ballot assessing a form of property tax — or “millage” — to provide funding for city and county libraries.

In Jonesboro’s case, property taxes for the library are currently two mills — or 0.002%. The ballot proposal would reduce the rate to one mill — or 0.001%.

Library officials in Jonesboro have said the tax cut would “devastate” the library and could force it to close, but news reports indicate the library has enjoyed a budget surplus of more than a million dollars for the past three years, and documents from the Craighead County Clerk’s Office show the millage tax provided more than $3.1 million in revenue for the library last year.

Even if the library were not spending public tax dollars on obscene children’s books, reducing the millage in Craighead County arguably would help balance the library’s budget and provide relief for taxpayers.

It’s ridiculous to think that a library isn’t to blame if a child finds pornographic or obscene material in the library’s children’s section.

Public libraries are supposed to be for everyone.

Families should be able to take their children to the library without worrying what their children might see.

Taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize graphic novels that depict explicit images of minors engaged in sexual acts.

Unfortunately, many libraries in Arkansas don’t seem to understand that.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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