The Arkansas Senate on Wednesday handily approved a bill that would strike a defense statute from state law protecting public library staff from criminal liability for distributing obscene material.
The Senate voted 27-6 to send Senate Bill 81 by Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Jonesboro, to the House for further consideration.
SB81 also is aimed at standardizing the process for challenging the "appropriateness of material" available at public and school libraries.
On Wednesday, the state Senate also approved a bill intended to regulate "adult-oriented performances" after concurring with House amendments to the bill.
The Senate voted 29-6 to send Senate Bill 43 by Sen. Gary Stubblefield, R-Branch, to Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
SB43 defines an "adult-oriented performance" as a show "intended to appeal to the prurient interest and that features a person who appears in a state of nudity or is semi-nude; the purposeful exposure, whether complete or partial, of a specific anatomical area, or prosthetic genitalia or breasts; or a specific sexual activity."
It also would bar an "adult-oriented performance" from taking place on public property, admitting minors or being "funded in whole or in part with public funds."
Supporters of Sullivan's Senate Bill 81 have contended the bill is needed to protect children from obscene material.
But opponents of the bill have countered the measure could invest legislative bodies with judicial power and lead to arbitrary determinations of what material is protected as free speech under the U.S. Constitution.
Sullivan told senators his Senate Bill 81 does not remove any books or let the Legislature remove any books from libraries.
"This just sets out a process for people and parents at public libraries and schools," to challenge potentially obscene material at a library, he said.
Sen. Alan Clark, R-Lonsdale, said no one should be handing obscene materials as determined by the courts to children, and there should be no librarian in the state who has to worry about that.
Sen. Linda Chesterfield, D-Little Rock, said the state Department of Education decides what books are acceptable in school libraries.
Sen. Stephanie Flowers, D-Pine Bluff, said school librarians don't pick the books in school libraries.
"That's why I don't understand your bill targeting school librarians" she told Sullivan. "It should be directed at the Department of Education."
SB81 would remove a provision in current statutes that protects public or school library staff who are "acting within the scope of his or her regular employment" from prosecution under obscenity laws.
The bill also would codify a process public and school libraries would have to follow when a person challenges potentially obscene material held by a library. The bill includes an appeal process that would allow a person to take their objection to a body of elected officials.
While current state law requires libraries to have a "written policy for addressing challenged material," the bill would require libraries to form committees to review objections and these committees would be subject to open meeting laws, Sullivan said.
Under the bill, a committee is not allowed to withdraw material from a library "solely for the viewpoints expressed within the material." The committee would have to review the material in its entirety and "shall not have selected portions taken out of context."
The bill would allow a person to appeal a decision made by one of these committees to a body of elected officials. In the case of a school library, the superintendent would direct appeals to the school board of directors. For a municipal or public library, the "executive head" of the city or county would present appeals to the "governing body of the county or city."
Sen. Clarke Tucker, D-Little Rock, said there are no criteria to determine whether materials should be removed from a library, and materials could be removed from a library for any reason.
The bill would allow libraries to disclose confidential library records to the parent or legal guardian of a minor.
It also would create a "furnishing harmful item to a minor" offense. Under this provision, a person who knowingly provides a minor with an item that is "harmful to minors" would be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor. A person could also commit this offense by transmitting through direct internet communication an item that is "harmful to minors" to a person they believe to be a minor.
The bill points to existing law which provides an extended definition of the term "harmful to minors." Among other characteristics, an item that is "harmful to minors" must be found by an "average" adult "applying contemporary community standards" to have a "predominant tendency to appeal to a prurient interest in sex to minors." An average adult also must find the item depicts or describes "nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or sadomasochistic abuse in a manner that is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community with respect to what is suitable for minors." The material or performance would have to lack "serious literary, scientific, medical, artistic, or political value for minors."
Information for this article was contributed by Will Langhorne of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Sen. Dan Sullivan introduces his library bill in the Senate on Wednesday. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Stephen Swofford)