Librarians facing a new penalty: prison

Librarians could face years of imprisonment and tens of thousands in fines for providing sexually explicit, obscene or “harmful” books to children under new state laws that permit criminal prosecution of school and library personnel.

At least seven states have passed such laws in the last two years, according to a Washington Post analysis, six of them in the past two months — although governors of Idaho and North Dakota vetoed the legislation. Another dozen states considered more than 20 similar bills this year, half of which are likely to come up again in 2024, The Post found.

Some of the laws impose severe penalties on librarians, who until now were exempted in almost every state from prosecution over obscene material — a carve-out meant to permit accurate lessons in topics such as sex education. All but one of the new laws target schools, while some also target the staff of public libraries and one affects book vendors.

One example is an Arkansas measure that says school and public librarians, as well as teachers, can be imprisoned for up to six years or fined $10,000 if they distribute obscene or harmful texts. It takes effect Aug. 1.

Library and free speech advocates were unaware of any instances so far in which a school staffer had been charged under the new laws. Most of the laws do not spell out precisely who will decide what counts as obscene but suggest the judgment should come from the courts.

Some educators and activists say the laws will forge a climate of fear among school librarians, spurring the censorship of books by and about LGBTQ individuals — even as the nation already faces a historic onslaught of challenges to books in those categories.

“It will make sure the only literature students are exposed to fits into a narrow scope of what some people want the world to look like,” said Keith Gambill, president of the teachers union in Indiana, one of the states that adopted obscenity laws. “This is my 37th year in education. I’ve never seen anything like this. … We are entering a very frightening period.”

more at link

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/05/18/school-librarians-jailed-banned-books/

information on a recent bill that was passed in Indiana

Legislation banning "harmful materials" from school libraries in Indiana passed the General Assembly in the final days of the 2023 session.

Here's what you need to know about Indiana House Bill 1447, which has been signed into law.

Indiana General Assembly 2023: House, Senate agree on measure to ban books from school libraries

What's in Indiana House Bill 1447?
The education bill initially was drafted to provide guidelines regarding third-party vendors for analysis, evaluations or surveys in schools. Late in the session, language was added that would classify literature "harmful to minors" under the same umbrella as already banned obscene materials.

Indiana Code outlines the following definitions of materials that are "harmful to minors":

• Nudity, sexual content or "sado-masochistic abuse"
  
  
• A persuasiveness for minors to engage in sexual activities
  
• Offensive content to community standards for adults considering what's suitable to minors to see
  
• Content void of "serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value" for kids
  

Librarians who violate the law could be charged with a Level 6 felony and face up to two and a half years of jail time.

Opponents worry about the chilling effects of stiff penalties creating pressure to remove books with anything controversial, such as LGBTQ content.

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/school-librarians-could-face-prison-125821403.html

 

that 1 teacher in Florida is in all this trouble for showing a movie where the horrifying LGBT moment was simply 1 of the characters saying they had a crush on the other

Now a book that has something similar could have a librarian facing jail time?

What is this world coming to?

 

Are we supposed to live life acting like LGBTQ people don’t exist or should be ostracized and hated? Like they’re some existential threat?

The hate and hypocrisy can’t be beat. How many kids been touched by a Catholic priest? If I had a dollar for every GOP politician arrested for molestation, child p*rn, and other sex offenses…

 

this is the biggest joke from that Indiana bill

• Offensive content to community standards for adults considering what's suitable to minors to see
• Content void of "serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value" for kids

Tf are “community standards” supposed to mean? Based off the standards of these hateful people, anything dealing with any sort of minority won’t be to their “standards” nor have any value.

Black baseball legends Jackie Robinson, Hank Aaron, and Roberto Clemente—and their triumphs in the face of racism—are apparently not appropriate reading for students in one large Florida district.

Children’s books that tell the stories of how the three sports heroes broke color barriers and battled racism during their lives have been removed from libraries in Duval County Public Schools, which is about the 20th-largest district in the country.

Florida schools have become a hotbed for the censorship of books about racism and the LGBTQ community since Gov. Ron DeSantis began attacking “woke culture.”

these books were only later reinstated because the public outcry got so bad