4-25-2012 Louisiana:
Baton Rouge -- Bills that would limit sex offenders' access to public libraries, make the killing of a taxi driver first-degree murder and increase penalties for the theft of copper were approved by a Senate committee Tuesday afternoon.
Senate Bill 162 would give the governing boards of libraries the ability to tailor their own restrictions on sex offenders. Bill sponsor Sen. Dale Erdey, R-Livingston, had originally proposed prohibiting sex offenders from libraries altogether but opted to give local boards the ability to make their own rules to avoid restricting access in unconstitutional ways.
Sex offenders are already prohibited from a range of facilities, but the First Amendment has generally been interpreted as protecting the right to access information, Erdey said.
"People who prey on our children are among the most dangerous criminals we face. They target on our most precious and our most vulnerable citizens, that being our children," he said.
At the request of Sen. Jonathan Perry, R-Kaplan, Erdey agreed to work on a way to standardize restrictions across districts before the bill reaches the Senate floor. Committee members unanimously gave their approval to the bill. ..Source.. by Jeff Adelson, The Times-Picayune
April 25, 2012
Bills would limit sex offenders' access to libraries
April 2, 2010
Court rules sex offender library ban unconstitutional
4-2-2010 New Mexico:
A Second District Court Judge ruled today that Albuquerque’s regulation banning sex offenders from libraries is unconstitutional. The law would create “an unacceptable risk of the suppression of ideas” and infringe upon the First Amendment rights of the sex offenders.
The ACLU of New Mexico (ACLU-NM) challenged the law and praised the decision by Judge Christina Armijo.
“No one questions the City’s purpose of ensuring public safety, but this regulation sacrificed library access for too many people who present no threat to library goers,” said ACLU-NM Executive Director Peter Simonson in a statement following the ruling. “A regulation like this must be narrowly tailored if it is going to infringe on a right as fundamental as the public’s ability to receive information. For many people, public libraries are, as one court put it, ‘the quintessential locus of the receipt of information.’”
The ruling enjoins, or prohibits, the city of Albuquerque from enforcing the regulation.
The ACLU highlighted a part of Trujillo’s decision:
“This Court has struggled in this case to strike the proper legal balance between competing interests… On one side of the equation here is the City, which no reasonable person could or would contend does not have a legitimate and compelling interest in…protecting children from harm, danger and crime, especially crimes of a sexual nature. On the other side of the equation is a group of individuals that, no matter how reviled, nevertheless possesses certain constitutional rights. When those rights are burdened or, in this case, wholly extinguished by an action of government, this Court has an obligation to scrutinize the facts and the law closely, carefully, and objectively to ensure that, whatever the end result, it is just. In this case, having done just this, the Court concludes that the City’s regulation, as currently written and in its present form, cannot stand.”Former mayor Martin Chavez created the regulation in 2008 with an executive order. ..Source.. Matthew Reichbach
June 16, 2009
IA- Library considers sex offender law impact
The latest in idiot written laws. Tell me an idiot didn't write this law!
6-16-2009 Iowa:
City Attorney Don Hemphill assured Spencer Public Library board members recently that only four sentences in a new state law apply to city and county libraries. He also deemed the potential impact of the 32-page act signed by the Gov. Chet Culver -- which lists prohibitions that apply only to individuals who've been convicted of a sex offense against a minor -- on the library as being "very minimal."
As of Monday evening, there were 19 sex offenders on the online Iowa Sex Offender Registry listed as living in Clay County. In the surrounding counties, there were 39 in Buena Vista, 59 in Cherokee, 12 in Dickinson, 13 in Emmet, 22 in O'Brien, 11 in Osceola, five in Palo Alto and eight sex offenders listed as living in Pocahontas County.
"First, I should emphasize there are two kinds of sex offenders for purposes of our consideration: Those who have committed an offense against a minor, that's a person under 18, and those whose victims were adults. Only those whose victims were minors are subject to the prohibition," Hemphill clarified. "Sex offenders whose victims weren't minors can come in and use the library like everybody else. But, sex offenders who have committed offense against a minor are banned from library property or from loitering from within 300 feet of the library property. However, the statue specifically provides that these offenders may live within 300 feet of the library. So, they can live next door in the new middle school."
Hemphill also explained there are two technical exemptions cited in this prohibition: Released offenders are authorized to come to a library to drop off their child. They may also be allowed in a library for voting purposes.
Hemphill then informed Spencer Public Library Director Kay Larson and library board members, "You don't have to enforce this law. You don't have to prepare a listing of these offenders and make sure they never set foot in the library. The standard is like any other person in the library: If somebody is acting in a way that causes you concern or suspicion, then you probably have a duty, as a reasonable person, to make some investigation. But, no, you don't have law enforcement authority or affirmative duty to try to list all these people."
As board members discussed the new law and whether they should develop a policy relating to it, the city attorney indicated there are a few existing policies they may want to consider.
"They can be on the premises with the approval of the library administrator. So, you need to think about under what circumstances, if any, should Kay authorize one of these persons to be on the library premises. I saw a suggestion that that would have to be a board decision. You could take the other extreme and leave it up to Kay to do whatever she wants," Hemphill told board members.
He continued, "The latest questions are: Are we going to serve these people even if they can't come to the library? Can they get a card? Can somebody come and get those materials for them?"
"I suppose there could be a criteria that they could come for the purpose of getting a card. Maybe they'd only come at 9 a.m., when children wouldn't be present," Hemphill answered. Or, convicted sex offenders whose victims were minors might make arrangements to visit a library while being supervised by a law enforcement official, one board member added for the sake of discussion.
The library's director then explained that individuals wanting a Spencer Public Library card can only apply for one on site. Online applications, which are "the trend in libraries," are not done locally, Larson said.
Board members directed her to crosscheck the online Iowa Sex Offender Registry registrant listings for the surrounding area with the library's current database. Larson was also told to invalidate their library cards, denying them this certain class of library service.
"I don't think that would take too much time and I think it would give our staff, if nothing else, peace of mind that we've blocked these people from just coming in here arbitrarily," she said.
While board members agreed with Spencer Public Library staff that homebound deliveries would not be allowed, it was clarified that they would be able to access the library's Wilbor and EbscoHost systems. The online systems allow users to download audiobooks and to access full-text articles from magazines, scientific journals, newspapers and reference books.
"And, if any of those offenders have this urgent need for checking out a book, surely there'd be a friend or associate who could use their card to do that to pick up a book for them (at the library)," board member Roger Littlefield said. ..Source.. by Kris Todd, Daily Reporter Staff
February 5, 2008
OUR VIEW: Weigh library restrictions carefully
2-5-2008 Massachusetts:
As New Bedford seeks to improve security at its public libraries following the rape of a 6-year-old boy Jan. 30, the trustees must weigh the fundamental freedom of library access — including access by ex-convicts and the homeless — against the right of children and other patrons to expect a safe environment.
Mayor Scott W. Lang is seeking no-trespass orders against all of the city's Level 3, and possibly Level 2, sex offenders.
He asked the trustees yesterday to approve a system that would require every patron to have valid photo identification in addition to a library card or guest pass. Patrons would have to swipe their cards to enter or leave the library.
In a cash-strapped system, the information from those cards would probably be used only to identify people after a crime has taken place, much the way the library's security cameras are used today. But the potential to infringe on individual freedom by monitoring library activity should raise concerns among the trustees.
I.D. cards have questionable preventative value. Almost anyone could get an I.D. card and enter the library. But the cards could be used to enforce no-trespass orders against sex offenders like the Level 3 offender accused in the rape.
Barring any group from using a public library is virtually without precedent. Nadine Mitchell, chief librarian in Lynn, warns that denying anyone access to the library violates state law and would likely result in decertification of a library, loss of grants and removal from the interlibrary loan system.
Yet libraries are not without rules. Bad behavior on the premises, such as viewing Internet porn or harassing other patrons, can result in a no-trespass order. In general, sex offenders are already barred from entering schools. Should the same apply to libraries, where children often go without their parents?
If New Bedford seeks to bar an entire class of people from the libraries, it could have a legal battle on its hands. What the final outcome should be, it is too soon to say. But we applaud Mayor Lang and the library trustees for investigating changes that could make a meaningful difference in safety at the libraries.
Massachusetts courts should take a hard look at the system that allowed the suspect, Corey Deen Saunders, to go free in spite of his history of sexual aggression. But the courts can only do so much to predict whether a convict will reoffend. Cities like New Bedford must take steps to protect the public from the inevitable presence of sex offenders in the community.
In the short term, the city is apt to beef up traditional means of security by adding more guards, cameras and monitors.
In Springfield, the main library is part of a campus of city museums. They share a security staff of 40 and a control room where surveillance video is monitored 24 hours a day.
New Bedford Library Director Stephen Fulchino cautions, though, that video surveillance is imperfect. "If nothing happens except every three years, you're going to miss it," he says.
Springfield's head of library security, Roger Plasse, would like to go beyond surveillance. He has asked for permission to eject sex offenders from the library, but the Library Commission considers it a violation of civil liberties, he said.
We shall see whether New Bedford sees things differently. ..more.. by
