A California superior court judge has dismissed a lawsuit that attempted to force the Livermore Public Library to shield children from sexual material on the Internet.
Judge George Hernandez ruled October 21 that a portion of the Communications Decency Act that was not thrown out by the Supreme Court protects providers of Internet access from being held responsible for material transmitted by others.
The suit was filed in May by the conservative Pacific Justice Institute on behalf of a woman whose 12-year-old son downloaded sexually explicit pictures from a library computer. Both sides said the case was the only one in the country that would hold libraries liable for exposing children to offensive Internet sites.
"This was a very important case because it threatened to make libraries responsible for blocking out millions of sites some might find objectionable," said Ann Brick, an attorney for the Northern California American Civil Liberties Union. "Libraries should never be put in the position of censor."
Posted October 26, 1998.