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ACLU Lawsuit Seeks Access to Lawful Information on Internet for Library Patrons in Eastern Washington (11/16/2006)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: media@aclu.org
SPOKANE, WA -
Represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington, three library
users and a nonprofit organization today brought a lawsuit to ensure that
patrons of a library system in Eastern Washington have access to useful and
lawful information on the Internet.
The lawsuit challenges
the library system's policy of using a restrictive Internet filter to bar access
by adults to information on its computers and of refusing to honor requests by
adult patrons to temporarily disable the filter for sessions of uncensored
reading and research.
"Community libraries are a valuable resource
for a wide variety of information. Libraries should not deny adults using
publicly available computers the opportunity to view research material and other
lawful information," said ACLU of Washington Legal Director Sarah
Dunne.
The North Central Regional Library District (NCRL) operates
28 community libraries in Chelan, Douglas, Ferry, Grant, and Okanogan Counties.
The NCRL has used a blocking software product called SmartFilter, Bess edition,
manufactured by the California-based company Secure Computing Corporation, to
filter Internet content on all public computers at its branch libraries. Bess
blocks a very broad array of lawful information, and the NCRL has refused
to unblock sites for patrons.
The lawsuit contends that the
library system's policy of refusing to disable its Internet filters at the
request of adults who wish to conduct bona fide research or to access the Web
for other lawful purposes violates the United States and Washington State
Constitutions. The lawsuit seeks an order directing the NCRL to provide
unblocked access to the Internet when adults request it.
Two
separate federal programs require libraries that receive funds for Internet
access to have the ability to block minors from seeing "visual depictions" of
sexual activity. But the U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted the law to mean that
libraries should disable those filters upon the request of an adult. The
ACLU believes that the NCRL filtering policy goes far beyond what is allowed
under federal law.
Plaintiffs represented by the ACLU in the
lawsuit are:
- Sarah Bradburn, a resident of Republic in Ferry
County, who has been blocked from using NCRL computers to research academic
assignments while studying at Eastern Washington University to become a drug and
alcohol counselor.
- Pearl Cherrington, a resident of Twisp in
Okanogan County, a professional photographer specializing in landscapes and
outdoor scenes who has been blocked from using NCRL computers to conduct
Internet research on art galleries and health
issues.
- Charles Heinlen, a resident of Okanogan in Okanogan
County, who has been blocked from using NCRL computers to access the blog he
maintains on MySpace, as well information relating to gun use by hunters and
other lawful information.
- The Second Amendment Foundation, a
nonprofit organization with more than 600,000 members nationwide and
headquarters in Bellevue, WA. The Foundation undertakes education, research,
publishing, and legal action focusing on the constitutional right to own and
possess firearms. It maintains a Web site and sponsors several publications that
are available online, and wishes to communicate to readers in North Central
Washington. The NCRL has blocked access to the Foundation-sponsored magazine
Women & Guns, which is written and edited by women for women, and covers
such topics as self-defense, recreational shooting, new products and legal
issues.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Spokane. Handling the
case for the ACLU are cooperating attorneys Duncan Manville and Robert Hyde of
the firm Rafel Manville PLLC and ACLU staff attorney Aaron
Caplan.
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