NYLA Responds to the Supreme Court's CIPA Decision
The New York Library Association is disappointed, dismayed and disheartened by the Supreme Court ruling that upholds CIPA and requires public libraries to filter internet terminals or eschew federal funding. Upholding CIPA places an undue burden on all libraries, especially smaller ones, and is, yet again, an example of imposing unfunded mandates on local jurisdictions-this time, the public library.
In this case, much of the ruling was based on the assumption that public libraries could "easily" turn filters off "without significant delay" at the request of an adult patron. "Clearly, Justice Kennedy has never been in a busy, and likely understaffed, urban library trying to get a librarian to assist him" said Diane Courtney, President of NYLA. "Since most libraries must, of necessity, limit a patron's time on the terminals, any wait for library staff to turn off the filter will negatively impact a person's search time. In these cases, any delay becomes significant. And what about the person too shy-or too uneducated-to know that he must ask a librarian to "unblock" the terminal?"
Also worrisome is the number of legitimate sites that children will no longer be able to access, because some filter has inexplicably deemed them pornographic. Since manufacturers of filtering software deem their methodology "proprietary," no one knows how many sites will be affected by each product. "The Supreme Court has based its judgment on a mistaken belief that filtering software can and does work. In effect it has put its faith in a technology that is flawed and ineffective" averred Courtney. "In the name of protecting children from pornography, the Court's ruling will restrain them from getting information," she said.
"Many libraries will choose to forego federal funding-however painful that is-in order to fulfill their mission of providing free access" predicted Eleanor Kuhns, head of NYLA's Intellectual Freedom Committee.
Susan Lehman Keitel, the Executive Director of NYLA, said that it is not yet known how many libraries will sacrifice their federal funding, since library boards will need to meet and make their decisions in light of the Supreme Court ruling. Some of New York's libraries get federal grants, known as LSTA (Library Services and Technology Act funds), and most receive telecommunications discounts, popularly called the "e-rate." For the majority of New York's public libraries, these sources do not represent a large amount of money, noted Courtney. Overwhelmingly, the public libraries in this state receive their revenue from their local taxpayers. But since public libraries are chronically under funded, foregoing federal monies would represent a difficult decision in these difficult economic times.
For Further Information Please Visit the Following Links:
CIPA - ALA
Quick Summary of CIPA Decision
Supreme Court Opinion - Please click here to be directed to the page that contains the link to the slip opinion for U.S. v. American Library Association (docket number 02-361). Please note, the slip opinion included on the Supreme Court's web site is a 56 page, 766 KB, PDF document.
