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Library Sued to Block Fahrenheit 9/11 ScreeningAn Ohio man filed suit October 18 to stop the Elyria Public Library’s West River branch from screening the controversial Michael Moore film Fahrenheit 9/11 in late October. Plaintiff James Pengov wrote in his request for an injunction that such a venue “in a key state during a close race can only be construed, by reasonably prudent people, as a clear stand against President Bush by the public library.”Echoing Pengov’s sentiments, Lorain County Republican Party Chairman Robert Rousseau said in the October 19 Lorain Morning Journal that library officials “have to understand that what they do could have repercussions,” particularly because the facility serves as a polling place on Election Day. “The library goes back to the voters to keep themselves in business,” Rousseau emphasized. When Pengov first made his concerns known a week earlier, library officials reacted by adding screenings of Farenhype 9/11, a documentary that calls into question some of the facts in Moore’s film. But on October 15, the library postponed showing both movies pending its securing the public-performance rights for Farenhype 9/11, EPL spokesperson Debbie Pillivant said in the October 19 Cleveland Plain Dealer. “If we can get it all done, we will show both before the election, back to back, because of the number of patrons requesting them,” Pillivant explained. No hearing date has been set for Pengov’s suit, in which the plaintiff is acting as his own counsel, because the paperwork is missing several key information items, according to Lorain County Common Pleas Judge Mark Betleski. The action marks the second time that Pengov has made headlines: In August, he made his presidential vote available to the highest bidder on Ebay until officials removed the offer because it is illegal to sell votes. Posted October 22, 2004. |
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