Library Internet use Policies

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Arizona -

Phoenix bans Internet porn at libraries

Council vote may lead to court battle

for city

Ginger D. Richardson, The Arizona Republic, Sept. 9, 2004 12:00 AM

Permanent filters OKd on library computers

A determined City Council declared Wednesday that pornography will no longer be available

at Phoenix libraries,

an action that could

lead to a courtroom showdown with First

Amendment advocates. Phoenix's new policy, which will filter all Internet

sessions for adult

users, is unusually stringent and appears to be the first of its kind among the nation's

largest cities, a number of

First Amendment

advocates say.

The new regulations, which take away library patrons' ability to surf the Web without

restrictions, took effect

immediately and could be

implemented today. The City Council's

unanimous vote disappointed many, including a visibly upset Toni Garvey,

Phoenix's public

library director, and prompted the local leader of the American Civil Liberties Union to say,

"This will end up in the

Supreme Court."

Eleanor Eisenberg, executive director of the ACLU of Arizona, stopped short of saying that

her organization would

take the city to court

in the near future but did say, "We've heard from

people who are concerned about this. We have several possible

plaintiffs." The

threat

did

little to sway Mayor Phil Gordon and Vice Mayor Peggy Bilsten, who said they are fully

prepared for a legal

battle. "I am

willing to

take this to court," Bilsten said. "Too many times,

we stop short of what we want to do because we are afraid of it

going to

court.

"I think this is a great case." Gordon agreed. "I don't believe that in our library, which is

designed to be family-

friendly, we should be

obliged to provide access to these materials,"

Gordon said. "If we are to be sued, then let the courts decide this

case." The city

moved

quickly to adopt the policy, which was prompted by last month's arrest of a child molester

who told police that he

had

downloaded

child

pornography at the Phoenix Public Library. The

arrest "shook the very foundation of what I believe we are here to

do, and that is

protect

families," Bilsten said. The city's plan has received support from Maricopa County Attorney

Rick Romley,

dozens

of residents

who

called and e-mailed the city, and Glendale Mayor

Elaine Scruggs, who told Gordon she intends to bring a

similar

proposal

before her

own

council. Previous Phoenix city regulations mandated that filters, which are designed to block

obscene

materials and

Web pages

by targeting key words, phrases or graphical images, remain turned on at all times in the

libraries' children's

areas and for patrons

under the age of 17. But those rules, like those in

most other municipalities nationwide, allowed adult residents

the option of

disabling

the

filters.

The council's action Wednesday changes all that. Some opponents fear that the city has had

a knee-jerk reaction

to one particular

incident and, in adopting the new policy, has gone too

far. The ACLU, the American Library Association and other

staunch First

Amendment

advocates say the filters the council is installing are overly broad and imprecise at best.

Eisenberg

and others say that

the

filters might mistakenly, for example, block Internet sites

that deal with breast cancer, AIDS research or sexual

education. They

also

argue that

installing such software puts the city at the mercy of software providers' personal biases and

prejudices. For that

reason,

members of the city's Library Advisory Board advised Gordon

last week not to adopt the policy. Garvey, the city's

librarian, did

not attend

that meeting but

she was present for Wednesday's vote. She did not speak and left the meeting quickly,

blinking

back

tears.

Later, she issued a statement saying that she "will of course follow the direction of (the) City

Council to make

Internet use at the

Phoenix Public Library safe and enjoyable for all of our

families and citizens." Board member Robert Villaseñor

Jr., however, told

council members

that he didn't think they "could prevail on this." "I am here as a citizen, but I am also a

member of

the library board,"

Villaseñor said. " . . . And I am telling you that you will be

removing a great wealth of information that ought to be

available and is

protected under the First Amendment." But resident Marti Winkler urged the council to

proceed with the filtering,

saying the idea that

pornographic material was available at the

library "has greatly alarmed me and disturbed me."

City Councilman Tom Simplot and other officials said they would support the library board in

any efforts it made to

find the most up-

to-

date technology. Simplot added that he hoped a

filter would soon be available that would "block only pornographic

material."

Retrieved September 9, 2004 from http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0909phxporn09.

html

Libraries - Internet Use Policies And Issues

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