Good News! The library Internet filtering bill passed out of committee late this morning by a vote of 9 to 5 (8 votes were needed). (Hat tip: Rhonda) Now begins the hard work of convincing 60 House members of the importance of this bill to safeguard our families and children.
The Bill will require Internet Screening in our Public Libraries that will filter obscene material which includes hard core and child pornography. Hopefully, the bill will now go the House for a vote within 3 weeks and then to the Senate.
Efforts to get a law like this have been ongoing since 1998 but the ACLU and ALA have been able to block it. The Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled to enforce obscenity laws. They have ruled in the past decade that filters in libraries are constitutional, do not violate First Amendment rights, are not censorship. The Public Library is not an open public forum where anything goes.
Find out how your legislator voted at the Illinois Family Institute website.
