ALA/ACLU Challenge CIPA
with Dual Federal Lawsuits
It’s a round-three legal battle for the American Library Association and the American Civil Liberties Union in their ongoing fight for unfettered Internet access. This time it’s the Children’s Internet Protection Act, signed into law last December, and set to be phased in beginning April 20. The two organizations filed simultaneous lawsuits March 20 in Philadelphia and New York on behalf of a coalition of library groups, health organizations, individual library patrons, and Internet publishers challenging CIPA’s constitutionality.
CIPA requires public libraries and schools that receive federal funds to install Internet filters to block pornography and other material deemed harmful to minors. The lawsuits challenge only the library portion of the measure.
“This legislation imposes a one-size-fits-all mechanical solution on libraries,” ALA President Nancy Kranich said in New York. “Blocking technologies come between librarians and their mission—to connect people with a broad range of information.”
The American Center for Law and Justice, an international public-interest law firm, is working with a self-described pro-child coalition of organizations and members of Congress in defending CIPA, and will file briefs responding to the lawsuits.
Previously the ALA and ACLU successfully challenged two other federal laws: the 1996 Communications Decency Act and the 1998 Child Online Protection Act. For further developments, consult ALA’s CIPA Web site.
Posted March 26, 2001.
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