Arkansas House Narrowly Passes Bill to Protect Children from Obscenity at Libraries

Legislation, Library, , ,

On Wednesday the Arkansas House of Representatives narrowly passed a bill addressing obscenity and other harmful material in public libraries.

S.B. 81 by Sen. Dan Sullivan (R – Russellville) and Rep. Justin Gonzales (R – Okolona) prohibits giving or sending harmful sexual material to a child.

The bill eliminates exemptions for libraries and schools in the state’s obscenity statute, and it clarifies how library patrons can work to remove objectionable material from a library’s catalog.

On Wednesday, the measure received 56 votes in the Arkansas House of Representatives; it takes 51 votes to pass a bill.

Family Council has heard repeatedly from people who are deeply troubled by obscene children’s books that some librarians have placed on the shelves of their local libraries.

For example, 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 and for failing to adopt a policy that separates sexual material from children’s content.

The library in Jonesboro went so far as to post 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.

Some of the people who have testified publicly against S.B. 81 this year have signaled that they want to be free to share obscene material with children at a library.

S.B. 81 is a good bill that will help prevent that.

The Following Representatives Voted For S.B. 81

  • Barker
  • Beaty Jr.
  • Beck
  • Bentley
  • Breaux
  • Brooks
  • K. Brown
  • M. Brown
  • Burkes
  • John Carr
  • Cavenaugh
  • C. Cooper
  • Crawford
  • Dalby
  • Duffield
  • Duke
  • Eaves
  • C. Fite
  • L. Fite
  • Furman
  • Gazaway
  • Gonzales
  • Gramlich
  • Haak
  • Hawk
  • D. Hodges
  • G. Hodges
  • Jean
  • L. Johnson
  • Long
  • Lundstrum
  • Maddox
  • McAlindon
  • McCollum
  • McGrew
  • B. McKenzie
  • McNair
  • S. Meeks
  • Milligan
  • Painter
  • Pearce
  • Pilkington
  • Puryear
  • Ray
  • Richmond
  • Rose
  • Rye
  • Schulz
  • R. Scott Richardson
  • Steimel
  • Tosh
  • Underwood
  • Unger
  • Wing
  • Womack
  • Wooldridge

The Following Representatives Voted Against S.B. 81

  • F. Allen
  • S. Berry
  • Clowney
  • A. Collins
  • Ennett
  • D. Ferguson
  • K. Ferguson
  • V. Flowers
  • D. Garner
  • Hudson
  • Lynch
  • Magie
  • McCullough
  • M. McElroy
  • Nicks
  • Perry
  • J. Richardson
  • Scott
  • T. Shephard
  • Springer
  • Vaught
  • Walker
  • Warren
  • D. Whitaker
  • Wooten

The Following Representatives Voted “Present” on S.B. 81

  • Joey Carr
  • Cozart
  • Evans
  • Hollowell
  • J. Mayberry
  • McClure
  • K. Moore
  • Watson

The Following Representatives Did Not Vote

  • Achor
  • Andrews
  • M. Berry
  • Eubanks
  • Fortner
  • Holcomb
  • Ladyman
  • Miller
  • J. Moore
  • Wardlaw
  • Speaker Shepherd

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House Committee Fails to Pass Bill That Would Address Obscenity at Libraries

Legislation, , , ,
Above: Family Council staff member Luke McCoy was among those who testified in favor of S.B. 81 at Tuesday’s committee meeting.

On Tuesday the House Judiciary Committee failed to pass a measure that would address obscene material in libraries across Arkansas.

S.B. 81 by Sen. Dan Sullivan (R – Russellville) and Rep. Justin Gonzales (R – Okolona) prohibits giving or sending harmful sexual material to a child.

The bill eliminates exemptions for libraries and schools in the state’s obscenity statute, and it clarifies how library patrons can work to remove objectionable material from a library’s catalog.

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 and for failing to adopt a policy that separates sexual material from children’s content.

The library in Jonesboro went so far as to post 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.

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.

Some of the people who have testified publicly against S.B. 81 this year have signaled that they want to be free to share obscene material with children at a library.

S.B. 81 is a good bill that would help prevent that.

Unfortunately, the bill failed to pass on a voice vote at Tuesday morning’s House Judiciary Committee meeting, but it could come back up later in the session.

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

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Committee Passes Bill to Address Obscenity in Libraries

Current Events, , ,

On Monday the Senate Judiciary Committee passed a measure addressing obscene material in libraries across Arkansas.

S.B. 81 by Sen. Dan Sullivan (R – Russellville) and Rep. Justin Gonzales (R – Okolona) prohibits giving or sending harmful sexual material to a child. The bill also eliminates exemptions for libraries and schools in the state’s obscenity statute, and it clarifies how library patrons can go about contesting objectionable material at a library.

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.

Librarians have made it clear that they want to be free to share obscene material. The library in Jonesboro went so far as to post 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.

Bills like S.B. 81 help address those problems.

The bill now goes to the Arkansas Senate for a vote.

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

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