Council Resolution on Filtering -Forwarded

Gerald Hodges (ghodges@ala.org)
Mon, 21 Jul 1997 12:09:46 -0400 

Date: Mon, 21 Jul 1997 12:09:46 -0400
Message-Id: <199707211612.MAA23636@comet.connix.com>
From: Gerald Hodges <ghodges@ala.org> (by way of mgolrick@sclc.org (Michael A. Golrick))
To: Multiple recipients of list <conntech>
Subject: Council Resolution on Filtering -Forwarded

I don't remember if I have already forwarded this to Conntech, but it is
important enough to bear repeating. This text will also be passed on to
each of the regions for their newsletters.

Michael Golrick
Connecticut Chapter Councilor
mgolrick@sclc.org


Subject: Council Resolution on Filtering

Following is the resolution passed by Council in San Francisco.
It is also available on the web site at www.ala.org/oif.html.


RESOLUTION ON THE USE OF FILTERING SOFTWARE IN LIBRARIES

WHEREAS,On June 26, 1997, the United States Supreme Court issued a
sweeping re-affirmation of core First Amendment principles and held that
communications over the Internet deserve the highest level of
Constitutional protection; and

WHEREAS,The Court's most fundamental holding is that communications
on the Internet deserve the same level of Constitutional protection as
books, magazines, newspapers, and speakers on a street corner
soapbox.  The Court found that the Internet *constitutes a vast platform
from which to address and hear from a world-wide audience of millions
of readers, viewers, researchers, and buyers,* and that *any person
with a phone line can become a town crier with a voice that resonates
farther than it could from any soapbox*; and

WHEREAS,For libraries, the most critical holding of the Supreme Court is
that libraries that make content available on the Internet can continue to
do so with the same Constitutional protections that apply to the books on
libraries' shelves; and

WHEREAS,The Court's conclusion that *the vast democratic fora of the
Internet* merit full constitutional protection will also serve to protect
libraries that provide their patrons with access to the Internet; and

WHEREAS,The Court recognized the importance of enabling individuals to
receive speech from the entire world and to speak to the entire world.
Libraries provide those opportunities to many who would not otherwise
have them; and

WHEREAS,The Supreme Court's decision will protect that access; and

WHEREAS,The use in libraries of software filters which block
Constitutionally protected speech is inconsistent with the United States
Constitution and federal law and may lead to legal exposure for the
library and its governing authorities; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED,That the American Library Association affirms that the use
of filtering software by libraries to block access to constitutionally
protected speech violates the Library Bill of Rights.


                        Adopted by the ALA Council, July 2, 1997