Justices uphold anti-porn filters

Some local libraries might stop applying for federal grants in light of a U.S. Supreme Court decision that forces libraries to install anti-pornography filters.

The high court on Monday upheld the Children's Internet Protection Act, passed by Congress in 2000, that required such filters for any library that gets federal dollars.

Librarians and free speech advocates had argued that the filtering devices would turn librarians into censors and would block access to legitimate information for many patrons.

But the Supreme Court said that since the filters could be turned off for adults who needed access to certain Internet sites, the law was not unconstitutional and did not restrict free speech.

"We're pretty adamant about not filtering," said Chip Ward, assistant director of the Salt Lake City public library system that runs six libraries. "Our library board will take a long look at the ruling and will decide the policy."

The city system gets most of its approximately $10 million operational budget from city taxes. It received a federal grant of $50,000 a few years ago.

Although the financial implications are not especially important for this library system, this ruling could be significant for smaller, rural libraries that rely more on federal money, he said.

"We don't know what we're going to do yet," said Diana Skousen, director of the Summit County Library in Kimball Junction. She said she didn't know how much federal funds the library relies on because she just became director. But most rural libraries rely heavily on federal funds because of small local tax bases.

The philosophical importance of this ruling for librarians everywhere is substantial, Ward said.

"It's a mixed bag because no one wants pornography in the libraries but such filters don't work real well, and I hate the idea that we may be forced to install them and block access to important sites as well," Skousen said. "They work on keyword access, and of course the filters can't interpret anything, like the word 'breast.' That's the common one used. Most will block that access so people can't get information on breast cancer."

Jim Cooper, director of the Salt Lake County library system, the state's largest, said the library board and his staff have already met the anti-pornography filter requirement. It has contracted with a company to help coordinate PC management, from how much time a library-visitor can stay on the computer to scheduling that time; to how much they are allowed to print off library computers and access. The county library system, like Salt Lake City's, also has an anti-pornography policy.

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Contributing: Norma Wagner

E-MAIL: lindat@desnews.com