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Christians Appalled by Calif. Library's 'Porn Flow'

Officials from a Sacramento library system rejected pleas of parents, students, and a legal organization late last week to ban the viewing of online pornography in libraries.

Many Christians are appalled at the porn industries’ victory and the ACLU adherence to “constitutionally protected materials.” They protest the lack of decency and responsibility from the officials on the board of the Sacramento Public Library. Some also labeled the incident as “porn flow.”

Pacific Justice Institute (PJI), a legal defense organization specializing in defense of religious freedom, parental rights, and other civil liberties, filed to ban access to pornography on the publicly-funded computer resources.

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At a public hearing late Thursday, one student recounted a personal experience of trying to conduct research while sitting next to someone viewing online porn.

There are a number of libraries in California and throughout the nation that prohibit the viewing of online porn in their facilities. El Dorado and Santa Cruz libraries for example have what parents call a “zero-tolerance porn policy”. Sacramento libraries however allow adults to ask for the libraries’ porn filtering software to be turned off for any reason. Librarians noted the libraries’ free internet access has been increasingly used to access pornography, even with children nearby.

The library’s Internet policy states the library “upholds and affirms the right of each individual to have access to constitutionally protected materials” and leaves it to “parents and legal guardians” to monitor their children’s use of computers in the library.

In a PJI release, staff attorney Matthew McReynolds explained that recent Supreme Court ruling clearly allows public libraries to ban porn at a library board hearing. McReynolds also cited recent reports in Chicago revealing a high incidence of sex crimes taking place in libraries which refuse to ban online porn.

A local constitutional law professor and a lawyer claiming affiliation with the ACLU, however, both argued before the Board that general First Amendment rights protect access to porn. They did not, however, explain why it must be taxpayer subsidized.

Parents said that there is no reason that taxpayer dollars should pay for access to porn. “It really degrades the whole environment of the library,” said a parent in an MSNBC report.

Furthermore, as Matt McReynolds of PJI noted, the presence of porn in libraries may compromise the safety within the library.

“If you’re inviting sex addicts and pedophiles into a place to view porn, and you have kids running around, it’s a recipe for disaster,” he said according to MSNBC.

Despite the arguments, a majority of the Sacramento public library board voted to continue allowing library patrons to view online porn. PJI president Brad Dacus noted that only three board members sided with the troubled citizens by supporting the move to ban library users' access to online porn.

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