House brings back ‘obscene’ materials bill

BOISE — The House State Affairs Committee introduced a proposal to allow civil penalties for schools or public libraries that permit adolescents younger than 18 access to materials considered obscene or harmful.

This is not a new idea in the Idaho Legislature; last year, the controversial HB 666, which would have criminalized librarians who allowed minors to obtain materials deemed harmful, passed the House and died in the Senate.

Rep. Jaron Crane, R-Nampa, on Monday brought the legislation before the committee, which unanimously voted to introduce it with almost no discussion.

“Seeing how these public school and community libraries are funded by Idaho taxpayer dollars, it is in the best interest of our state that these institutions make a reasonable effort to restrict access to children when it comes to these materials in libraries,” Crane said.

The legislation, which would be called The Children’s School and Library Protection Act, includes several detailed descriptions of what is considered “harmful to minors.”

This list includes “patently offensive” descriptions or representations of sexual acts, masturbation, excretory functions, or “lewd exhibition of genitals.” The bill would not include what is considered to have “serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors.”

It would apply to any material that “has the dominant effect of substantially arousing sexual desires in persons” under 18.

Under the bill, any minor who obtains this kind of material from a school or public library, or their parent or legal guardian, may sue the institution for up to $10,000 in damages, if employees gave or made the materials available or the institution “failed to take reasonable steps to restrict access.” The civil action must start within four years of the incident.

There would be affirmative defenses for those who had reasonable cause to believe that the minor involved was 18 or older, or if they verified that the minor involved was accompanied at the time by a parent or guardian.

The bill is supported by the Idaho Family Policy Center, which is “a ministry that advances the lordship of Christ in the public square through engaging the church, promoting God-honoring public policy, and training statesmen,” according to its website.

Policy center President Blaine Conzatti said in an emailed statement the the group is “thrilled that our legislation to protect children from pornographic material at public schools and community libraries has been introduced.”

Materials found in libraries has been a growing point of contention in Idaho. In April, a number of residents handed letters to the Meridian Board of Trustees announcing an intent to file tort claims regarding a few issues, including “disseminating obscene materials.” In May, the Nampa School District board voted to permanently remove 22 challenged books from its libraries.

Under last year’s HB 666, librarians could have faced jail time for allowing minors to obtain obscene materials. The state Commission for Libraries budget also faced numerous rejections in the House, with some citing the Idaho Library Association’s opposition to HB 666.

Before the vote Monday, committee chairperson and the bill sponsor’s brother, Brent Crane, R-Nampa, said the members should be familiar with the issue from last year and moved to introduce the legislation.

The legislation will have a hearing before going to the floor for a vote.

Guido covers Idaho politics for the Lewiston Tribune, Moscow-Pullman Daily News and Idaho Press of Nampa. She may be contacted at lguido@idahopress.com and can be found on Twitter @EyeOnBoiseGuido.