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Free-Speech Suit Stifles Library FundingPending the outcome of a First Amendment lawsuit filed March 3 against the Ventura County (Calif.) Library Services Agency over its Internet acceptable-use policy, the Camarillo City Council has postponed considering a $150,000 budget hike for more computers, technical support, and books at the agency's Camarillo branch. In the suit, 11 members of the local Libertarian Party are objecting to a policy requiring patrons to promise in writing not to visit sexually explicit Internet sites at the library, a condition imposed by officials in lieu of blocking software. "This isn't about the merits of pornography," plaintiff attorney William John Weilbacher told the Los Angeles Times March 21. "It's about the government having no business saying what you can and cannot look at." "The suit has us concerned about funding computers that could allow people to access material we don't necessarily approve of," Camarillo Councilman Bill Liebmann remarked March 26. Posted March 30, 1998. |
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