West Virginia Governor to Bar Porn
on State Computers
The governor of West Virginia plans to draft an executive order to keep Internet pornography out of the state’s libraries, public schools, and government offices.
Gov. Cecil Underwood’s order will complement legislation that is intended to keep pornography from people under age 18, according to a January 25 Associated Press report. A similar bill failed last year because of a clerical error.
Hilary Chiz, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia, said the order is unnecessary since state policy already bars public employees from using the Internet for nonwork purposes, and teachers monitor student Internet use. Librarians “can expect to be political footballs,” Chiz warned.
J. D. Waggoner, deputy director of the state library commission, said the U.S. Supreme Court has had trouble defining pornography, “so I’m not sure we can define it, either.” The commission has advised the state’s 177 libraries to establish Internet policies that reflect community values, Waggoner said, but libraries serve as “an open forum to every idea.”
Posted February 7, 2000.
|
