Alabama lawmakers on Thursday advanced legislation that could see librarians prosecuted under the state's obscenity law for providing “harmful” materials to minors, the latest in a wave of bills in Republican-led states targeting library content and decisions.
The Alabama bill removes the existing exemption for public libraries in the state's obscenity law. It also expands the definition of prohibited sexual conduct to include any “sexual or gender oriented conduct" at K-12 public schools or public libraries that “exposes minors to persons who are dressed in sexually revealing, exaggerated, or provocative clothing or costumes, or are stripping, or engaged in lewd or lascivious dancing, presentations, or activities.
“This process will be manipulated and used to arrest librarians that you don’t like, and not because they did anything criminal. It's because you disagree with them,” Rep. Chris England, a Democrat from Tuscaloosa, said during debate. A judge in July temporarily blocked Arkansas from enforcing a similar law that would have allowed criminal charges against librarians and booksellers for providing “harmful” materials to minors.
Republican Rep. David Faulkner, who worked on a substitute version of the bill that was approved by the House, disputed that the bill could have wide-ranging impact. He said courts have long interpreted what is obscene material.
Law Law Latest News, Law Law Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: 13WHAM - 🏆 256. / 63 Read more »
Source: fox32news - 🏆 547. / 51 Read more »