Arkansas Senate approves bill creating obscenity standards for libraries

The Arkansas Senate voted Wednesday to approve SB 81, a proposed law which creates a process that would hold municipal or school library staff criminally liable for furnishing or distributing items deemed “obscene” to minors.

All of the senators representing parts of Saline County — Kim Hammer, Alan Clark and Matt Mckee — voted for approval. The final vote tally was 27-6.

The bill now heads to the House of Representatives. In the senate, the vote was along party lines with all six senate Democrats voting against the legislation and all but two Republicans voting for approval. Those two Republicans, Senators Jane English and Bryan King, did not cast their votes.

A spokesperson for the Saline County Library responded to the proposed law.

“As libraries, we don’t own judicially recognized obscene materials. We also respect the First Amendment, allowing parents the freedom to choose what is appropriate for their children to check out instead of other parents or even librarians. That’s why we encourage parents and guardians to have talked often with their children about what they are reading and set their own limits on what can or cannot be checked out by going with them to the library whenever they can,” said Community Engagement Manager Kari Lapp.

Clark shared his reasons for voting for the bill. He said originally he was not happy with the legislation, but after the amendments to the bill had been approved, he thinks the bill is more suitable.

“But, no one should be handing obscene material, as determined by our courts, to kids,” said Clark.

Clark said he takes issue with the idea that the government should decide what kids can read, especially without input from the parents.

“Parents need to know that if they ask, what did my kid check out, they can be told because they are the final authority,” added Clark.

During Wednesday’s Senate floor session. Several senators shared their reasons for supporting or opposing the bill.

Democratic State Senators Linda Chesterfield, of Little Rock, and Stephanie Flowers, of Pine Bluff, both pointed out how the Arkansas Department of Education already decides which books can be placed in school libraries.

Chesterfield also raised the concern that the Bible and books of greek mythology could potentially be deemed obscene under this legislation.

“I’m also concerned about the bag of worms that we’re opening,” said Chesterfield. “If we read the Bible, it refers to rape, to incest, the Song of Solomon is very provocative. I don’t want people to be able to say I don’t want the Bible in the library.”

Republican Senator Dan Sullivan, the bill’s sponsor, assured his colleagues that the Bible would not be removed from any libraries.

Sullivan said his bill seeks to codify a system that protects children from receiving items deemed “harmful” from school and public libraries.

Critics of the bill have raised concerns about the bill violating freedom of speech and the First Amendment of the Constitution. It’s also been pointed out that not only librarians could be held criminally liable, but teachers could also be prosecuted.

Items considered to be harmful to minors, are defined by the bill and Arkansas code, to mean a “material or performance that depicts or describes nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement or sadomasochistic abuse.”

Currently, under Arkansas law, librarians are exempt from criminal punishment for distributing material deemed “harmful to minors.” If the bill is signed it into law, they would no longer be exempt and could be held criminally liable.

The bill states that a person who knowingly distributes an item with any obscene printed or written material, to a minor, could be convicted of a Class D felony.

The proposed law would create an appeals process for individual members of the public to challenge items in public and school libraries. If an item is challenged, the law would require schools and libraries to form a committee to review the material and decide what action to take.

The complaint would then either go to the school board or local elected officials to make a final determination on whether to remove the item from libraries. The bill requires the meetings where these determinations are made to be held in public.

Sullivan said the purpose of this process is to allow communities to decide on these issues at the local level, leaving the power to remove books and other materials from public and school libraries to elected officials.

During Monday’s Senate Judiciary Committee meeting, Senator Clarke Tucker, of Little Rock, referred to the “Miller test” which is a test created by the United States Supreme Court to determine whether speech or expression should be labeled obscene, and therefore not be protected by the first amendment.

Tucker pointed out that the Miller test is not included anywhere in the proposed law.

Sullivan said he expects libraries to have their policies and that he does not want to “micro-manage libraries.”