ACLU Regroups after Judge Dismisses
St. Tammany Video Suit
The Louisiana chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union is planning its next move following District Judge Donald Fendlason’s dismissal of a lawsuit against the St. Tammany Parish local governing authority for imposing a policy barring library patrons under 17 from borrowing R- or NC-17-rated videos. “We’re working on a response to it,” Executive Director Joe Cook told the June 17 New Orleans Times-Picayune.
Judge Fendlason ruled May 26 that plaintiff Gay Ward Chavez had not proved that she or her children had been adversely affected by the policy, which requires a parent to give written permission before a child can check out a mature video. He also wrote that Chavez should have sued the board as defendants as well.
In its defense, the St. Tammany Police Jury had argued that it had suggested, not mandated, the revised policy. But library board President Mark Johnson told the newspaper, “The jurors made it very clear we had to do it.”
Posted June 21, 1999.
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