Teachers, librarians caught giving 'obscene' materials to kids could be charged with felony under new Ohio bill



A Republican state representative in Ohio has proposed a bill which, if passed, would bar teachers and librarians from exposing schoolchildren to obscene material.

Last month, state Rep. Adam Mathews (R-Lebanon) introduced H.B. 556 which would "create criminal liability for certain teachers and librarians for the offense of pandering obscenity." Under H.B. 556, educators could not create, publish, or perform anything that features "obscene material." They would similarly be prohibited from promoting public events containing obscene material.

'A 2nd grader does not need to dodge obscenity in the school library, no matter who the subjects of the obscenity are.'

Should the bill become law, any such teacher or librarian caught sharing or promoting such material could be charged with a Class 5 felony, which carries a sentence of between six and 12 months in jail and a $2,500 fine, WLWT reported. The bill permits certain exceptions for biology and health teachers as well as material with "a bona fide medical, scientific, religious, governmental, judicial, or other proper purpose."

"The purpose of House Bill 556 is to ensure the standard obscenity rules that operate in day-to-day life, from Barnes & Noble to our television sets, are upheld in our K-12 educational spaces," Rep. Mathews said in a statement. "We want to protect the trust and relationship between parents, teachers, and students during the school day."

Critics, however, countered that the bill never defines obscenity and would therefore be abused to go after teachers. Melissa Cropper, president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers, claimed the "vagueness of the bill" would give "bad faith actors" the opportunity to attack public educators under the guise of "protecting children."

Ohio Education Association President Scott DiMauro went a step farther, claiming he was "appalled" by the bill and suggesting that it attempted "to silence or punish educators for doing their jobs."

"HB 556 would have a chilling effect on our classrooms," he continued, "by making trained, experienced professionals unsure whether the necessary, legitimate education materials they have been using with their students would be safe under this dangerous law."

Several also mentioned that Ohio law already forbids pandering obscene material.

Mathews acknowledged that an anti-obscenity law already exists but added that his bill would ensure such laws would be enforced in Ohio schools and school libraries. He also indicated that teachers can easily cover sensitive topics with their students without using obscene material.

"Simply put, a 2nd grader does not need to dodge obscenity in the school library, no matter who the subjects of the obscenity are," he said. "... Further, newspapers and history books can inform without delving into obscenity, and I have full confidence teachers can handle tough topics like human trafficking similarly."

H.B. 556 has since been passed along to the Ohio House Criminal Justice Committee. However, the committee has yet to schedule a date to consider it.

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Arkansas library director refused to remove obscene materials from children's sections. Now she's out of a job.



The director of the Saline County Library in central Arkansas refused to relocate LGBT propaganda and content critics called "pornographic" from children's sections to age-appropriate areas in the county public libraries, despite an April court resolution requesting that she do so. On Monday, Patricia Hector discovered she herself had been removed.

Although the termination of an individual who unilaterally insisted on exposing children to inappropriate materials is ostensibly a win for concerned parents in the county and the democratic process, leftists are beside themselves. The ACLU of Arkansas has even made a thinly veiled threat of legal action against Saline County officials.

What's the background?

The Saline County Quorum Court convened in April to take up concerns about the presence of inappropriate materials in the children's sections of the county's public libraries. Members of the conservative group Saline County Republican Women were among those advocating for the relocation of "X-rated" material.

The meeting, during which 53 members of the community were given an opportunity to provide input, lasted two hours, reported KATV-TV.

The court ultimately passed a resolution, which reportedly paralleled Arkansas Act 372 — a law Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders ratified on March 31, exposing librarians to criminal charges and possible jail time if they distribute content that is "harmful to minors."

The all-Republican Saline County Quorum Court's resolution ensured that inappropriate content would have no home in the library's children's sections.

The Arkansas Advocate indicated the court recommended that the library "relocate materials that are not subject-matter or age appropriate for children, due to their sexual content or imagery, to an area that is not accessible to children."

Hector, executive director since 2016, publicly refused to follow the court's recommendation, suggesting relocating books "is the same thing as banning" them. Additionally, she singled out SCRW, suggesting they wanted "to erase people of color and marginalize LGBTQ people."

SCRW, which had supported both the resolution and Hector's firing, subsequently shared images from one of the sexually graphic books Hector allegedly kept in the children's section of the Bob Herzfeld Memorial Library, which depicted various sex positions; promoted gender ideology and LGBT neologisms; had a chapter on masturbation; was full of images of cartoon genitals; and discussed various birth control implements.

On July 16, SCRW passed another resolution urging the county judge and quorum court to remove Hector "at the earliest possible time" and "that the county remove Director Hector and replace the three remaining Democrats on the library board."

The people come out on top

After months of Hector flouting its recommendation, the court approved an ordinance in August giving it broader control over the library system.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported that the justices of the peace voted 11-2 on Aug. 21 to strip library board members of their ability to hire or fire employees and regulate their salaries. Additionally, the ordinance subjected the library to an annual third-party audit and required that it have its budget approved by the Saline County Quorum Court.

"It's been turned into something complicated," said Clint Chism, a member of the court. "All along all of this was protecting children. If the books had been moved, we wouldn't be going through this tonight."

Jennifer Lancaster, president of SCRW, underscored she was not "in favor of banning any books" and that the effort was about "protecting children."

On Monday, several weeks after firing and hiring decisions were handed over to the court, Saline County Judge Matt Brumley met with Christy Peterson, the county human resources director, reported the Democrat-Gazette.

Brumley allegedly indicated Hector's services were no longer needed.

Trevor Villines, a spokesman for the county, confirmed Hector is out of a job and that "Leigh Espey has been named interim director."

Hector once again singled out SCRW, calling them "reprehensible," telling the Democrat-Gazette after her apparent termination, "They will eventually find that book banners are always on the wrong side of history."

The axed librarian told KATV, "What they did is terrible for this county. ... It's none of their business what books people read and since they challenged three of them, one of them was about race and two of them were about LGBTQ."

"You can't fire somebody for upholding the law," she added. "And I have an attorney."

David Gibson Sr., the chairman of the Saline County Republican Committee, told KARK-TV, "She was more committed to books than she was to children's safety. ... This move has everything to do with children. It has nothing to do with politics."

Defenders of obscene materials in kids' sections pipe up

Following Hector's replacement, the leftist Saline County Library Alliance said in a statement, "It's a dark day for the residents of Saline County."

The alliance added that it "has been hard at work on a ballot initiative to strip the Quorum Court and County Judge of the ill-gotten powers they have granted themselves."

American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas executive director Holly Dickson said in a statement obtained by the Arkansas Times, "These Saline county officials, who have proved themselves determined to ban books and target their librarian in order to do it, are likely to get an expensive education in the law they could have obtained for free by listening to their librarian and people in the community."

Billboard sparking controversy in Saline Countyyoutu.be

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Rather than comply with age verification law, Pornhub restricts access to Virginians



Smut giant Pornhub has blocked access to users in Virginia rather than comply with a new law designed to preclude children from accessing the graphic and often brutal sexual content on its site.

In a notification to prospective users Thursday, the company claimed the legal requirement — effective July 1 — that users provide proof of their age "is not the most effective solution for protecting our users, and in fact, will put children and your privacy at risk," reported WRIC-TV.

"The safety of our users is one of our biggest concerns. We believe that the best and most effective solution for protecting children and adults alike is to identify users by their device and allow access to age-restricted materials and websites based on that identification," wrote Pornhub. "Until a real solution is offered, we have made the difficult decision to completely disable access to our website in Virginia."

The smut company told users in Utah virtually the same thing last month after state Republicans took similar steps to spare American children from the content peddled by the European-based, Canada-centered company, which sees over 2 billion users every month.

Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin's office released a statement, saying, "The governor remains committed to protecting Virginia’s children from dangerous material on the internet."

State Sen. William Stanley introduced SB 1515, stating, "If we're going to sit here and just say, ‘Well, there's nothing we can do about it. It's the, you know, darn old internet,’ then we're abrogating our responsibility to our children," reported VPM News.

The law states that "Any commercial entity that knowingly or intentionally publishes or distributes material harmful to minors on the Internet from a website that contains a substantial portion of such material shall ... verify that any person attempting to access such material harmful to minors is 18 years or older."

A commercial entity that enables children to access harmful pornographic material is subject under the law to civil liability for damages.

Youngkin ratified the legislation in May.

While Pornhub cited the need to protect users in its rationale for discontinuing service to Virginia, it was accused further afield this week of illegally collecting data from millions of users.

Wired reported that a complaint, "based on a technical analysis of the website and its privacy practices," was filed in Italy Thursday claiming the site is "dealing with the sexual preferences of users" without asking for consent and likely violating European law.

A 2019 study found that 93% of porn sites sent user data to an average of seven third-party domains, reported the New York Times.

"This isn’t picking out a sweater and seeing it follow you across the web. This is so much more specific and deeply personal," Elena Maris, the study's lead author.

In Pornhub's message to users in Virginia, the company also references the desire to protect children from risk, yet the company has been accused on multiple occasions in recent years of hosting explicit videos of minors, allegedly uploaded without their consent, as reported by the New York Post.

In 2021, the company even settled a lawsuit brought by 50 women who alleged it had profited from pornographic videos published without their consent, according to Canadian state media.

The Free Speech Coalition, a trade association for American smut dealers, indicated it might challenge the Virginia law in court, as it has in both Louisiana and Utah.

"It’s not a matter of if these laws will be ruled unconstitutional but when," a spokesman for the group told WRIC.

Concerning a possible legal challenge, Stanley said, "I think the compelling state interest is the protection of our children. ... And I would rather try and have a supreme court tell me I was wrong then not to try at all."

Pornography has been shown to have a devastating impact on the minds of children and adults alike.

An Israeli study published this month in the scientific journal Body Image indicated a link between pornography consumption and negative body image and ultimately increased severity of eating disorder symptoms.

A February 2022 study published in the journal Psychological Medicine found that porn is "associated with the erosion of the quality of men's sex lives" — "associated with lower levels of sexual self-competence, impaired sexual functioning, and decreased partner-reported sexual satisfaction."

The Australian government found that pornography consumption by young people has served "normalise sexual violence and contribute to unrealistic understandings of sex and sexuality."

A 2014 study revealed that watching porn actually could shrink a part of the brain linked to pleasure.

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