Schedule of Witnesses and Testimonies in Multnomah v. US

Following is the trial schedule, including the witnesses who are scheduled to appear on each day. The Multnomah County Public Library case has been consolidated for trial with a case brought by the American Library Association (ALA). After each witness name below is the case name for which that witness is appearing -- either Multnomah County (represented by the ACLU) or the American Library Association:

MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2002 

1. CANDACE MORGAN (ALA) 

Candace Morgan is an Associate Director of the Fort Vancouver Regional Library in Fort Vancouver, Washington.  She is also the former president of the Freedom to Read Foundation. Ms. Morgan will testify about the library use policies at her library.  She will testify about the public hearings held in her community to develop the current Internet Use Policy at Fort Vancouver Regional Library, which allows each patron to choose either filtered access, unfiltered access or no Internet access for that individual patron or the patron's child.  She will testify about the use of privacy screens and educational training at her library. 
Estimated time of direct examination: 45 minutes. 

2. GINNIE COOPER (Multnomah)

Ginnie Cooper is Director of the plaintiff Multnomah County Public Library, in Portland, OR, a library system serving 500,000 card-carrying patrons through its Central Library and 17 branches.  Ms. Cooper will testify about CIPA's effect on her library and others, the mission of public libraries, and the ways in which librarians help patrons of all ages find the material they want and avoid unwanted content.
Estimated time of direct examination: 1 hour.

3. SALLY GARDNER REED (ALA)

Sally Gardner Reed is the Executive Director of Friends of the Library USA. Until January, 2002, she was the Director of the Norfolk Public Library in Norfolk, Virginia.  She is a past Board Member of the American Library Association.  She will testify about the purpose and function of libraries, including collection development, access to materials, and inter-library loan. She will testify about the Internet Use Policy at Norfolk, Virginia, which allows unfiltered access to the Internet.  She will testify about less restrictive alternatives to filtered Internet access as compiled in the American Library Association Internet Tool Kit.
Estimated time of direct examination:  45 minutes.

4. PETER HAMON (Multnomah)

Peter Hamon is Director of the plaintiff South Central Library System (SCLS) in Madison, WI, a consortium of 50 independent libraries serving a predominantly rural and agricultural region in central and southern Wisconsin.  Mr. Hamon will testify about the mission of SCLS, CIPA's effect on SCLS and its member libraries, and the problems posed by requiring library patrons to request permission under CIPA to access blocked sites for "bona fide research."
Estimated time of direct examination: 45 minutes.

5. DR. GEOFFREY NUNBERG (ALA) 

Expert witness Dr. Geoffrey Nunberg is a Researcher and Professor in the Department of Linguistics at Stanford University.  He was formerly a Principal Scientist for Xerox PARC.   He received his B.A. from Columbia University, a Masters in Linguistics from University of Pennsylvania and PhD in Linguistics from CUNY.  Dr. Nunberg is an expert on automated classification systems, of which blocking software programs are a particular type.  Dr. Nunberg will testify about the inherent methodological flaws and technical limitations of blocking software that make the use of such software in the context of the public library infeasible because of the systematic overblocking and underblocking by these products.
Estimated time of direct examination: 2 hours.

TUESDAY, MARCH 26, 2002

1. DR. GEOFFREY NUNBERG (ALA) 
Continued from Monday

2. DR. JOSEPH JANES (Multnomah) 

Expert witness Dr. Joseph Janes is an Assistant Professor at The Information School of the University of Washington in Seattle, WA.  Dr. Janes will testify that he and his staff reviewed a statistical sample of all web pages found to be blocked by expert Benjamin Edelman (see below) in order to determine which pages had value in a library context.  He will further testify that his findings establishing with 95%  statistical certainty that 65 to 70.6% of the web pages documented by Mr. Edelman are wrongly blocked.
Estimated time of direct examination: 1 hour.

3. EMMALYN ROOD (Multnomah)

Plaintiff Emmalyn Rood of Portland, OR, is a sixteen-year-old library patron.  She will testify regarding her reliance on the public library for Internet access, the controversial and sensitive nature of her research, and her unwillingness to request unblocking of sites.
Estimated time of direct examination: 30 minutes.

4. MARK BROWN (Multnomah)

Plaintiff Mark Brown is a patron of the Philadelphia Free Library.  He will testify about his use of the Internet at the library, the controversial and sensitive nature of some of his research, and his unwillingness to request unblocking of sites.
Estimated time of direct examination: 30 minutes.

5. CHRISTOPHER HUNTER (ALA)

Expert witness Christopher Hunter is a doctoral candidate at the Annenberg School for Communication of the University of Pennsylvania.  Mr. Hunter tested the effectiveness of four popular blocking software programs to determine the extent to which they blocked unobjectionable material on the Internet and failed to block objectionable material.  Mr. Hunter also reviewed and analyzed more than 40 other studies of blocking software.  Mr. Hunter will testify based on his own research and his review of other studies that all blocking software programs systematically underblock and overblock.
Estimated time of direct examination: 1 hour.

6. DR. JONATHAN BERTMAN (Multnomah)

Dr. Jonathan Bertman is the President and Medical Director of plaintiff Afraid to Ask.com, Inc. of Saunderstown, RI.  That company publishes an educational Web site, www.afraidtoask.com, offering information on highly sensitive, personal, or controversial medical topics about which people are often "afraid to ask."  Dr. Bertman will testify that his site is currently blocked by several programs and will describe his reasonable fear that it will continue to be blocked.  He will also testify about the stigma that will prevent those readers from requesting that a librarian unblock the site, especially if required to disclose either their identity or their purpose in accessing the site.
Estimated time of direct examination: 30 minutes.

7. DR. MICHAEL RYAN (Multnomah)

Expert witness Dr. Michael Ryan is Director of the Annenberg Rare Book and Manuscript Library at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA.  Dr. Ryan will testify that he reviewed certain web sites found to be blocked by Mr. Edelman and determined that they contain content of use or interest in a public library.
Estimated time of direct examination: 30 minutes. 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2002

No witnesses were heard.

THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 2002

The defendants will offer testimony:

1. DAVID BIEK - Librarian, Tacoma Public Library

2. CHRIS LEMMONS - Analyst, eTesting Labs

3. DAVID SUDDUTH - Chairman, Greenville County (SC) Library System Library Board

FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 2002

The defendants will offer testimony:

1. BEVERLY JAMES - Director, Greenville County (SC) Library System

2. NORMAN BELK - Librarian, Greenville County (SC) Library System

3. BLAISE CRONIN - Professor, School of Library and Information Science, Indiana University

MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2002

The defendants will offer testimony:

1. DON BARLOW - Director, Westerville (OH) Public Library

2. DONALD DAVIS - Professor, Graduate School of Library and Information Sicence, University of Texas

3. CORY FINNELL - Partner, Certus Consulting Group

TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2002

1. BENJAMIN EDELMAN (Multnomah)

Expert witness Benjamin Edelman is a computer expert and consultant who currently works for the Berkeman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School in Cambridge, MA.  Mr. Edelman will provide expert testimony about his research and documentation regarding blocking programs.  His research documents 6777 sites blocked by at least one of four blocking programs.  His research will show that these programs persistently block a significant portion of content on the Internet that does not meet the programs' self-defined category definitions.
Estimated time of direct examination: 2-3 hours.

2. ANNE LIPOW (Multnomah)

Expert witness Anne Lipow has been a librarian and library consultant for over 40 years; her consulting business, Library Solutions Institute and Press, is based in Berkeley, CA.  She has worked with hundreds of libraries around the United States and the world, and is an expert on using technology and the Internet to expand the resources available through libraries.  Ms. Lipow will testify that she reviewed certain web sites found to be blocked by Mr. Edelman (see above), and determined that they contain content of use or interest in a public library.  Ms. Lipow will also testify about how the Internet has changed reference services, and about the problems posed by CIPA's requirement that patrons request permission to access blocked sites for "bona fide research."
Estimated time of direct examination: 45 minutes.  

3. MARY K. CHELTON (ALA)

Expert witness Mary K. Chelton is an Associate Professor of the Graduate School of Library and Information Studies at Queens College/ CUNY.  She received a PhD in communications and a Masters in library sciences from Rutgers University, a Masters in public health from the University of Alabama, and a B.A. from Loyola College.  Ms. Chelton was a public librarian for over 20 years, specializing in youth services.  Ms. Chelton will testify about the purpose and function of libraries, and the use of blocking software in the context of the public library.
Estimated time of direct examination: 1 hour. 

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3, 2002

The defendants and the plaintiffs will offer testimony:

Defendants' witnesses: 

1. CORY FINNELL - Partner, Certus Consulting Group, continued

2. JAMES McCLAVE - President, InfoTech

3. DAVID EWICK - Director, Fulton County (IN) Public Library

Plaintiffs' witnesses:

1. BENJAMIN EDELMAN (Multnomah)

Multnomah expert witness Benjamin Edelman will likely offer rebuttal testimony to the testimony of defendants' witnesses Cory Finnell and Christopher Lemmons.

2. SALLY GARDNER REED (ALA)

Sally Gardner Reed will likely offer rebuttal testimony to the testimony of defendants' witnesses.

THURSDAY, APRIL 4, 2002

Final arguments.

 

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