The Children’s Internet Protection Act hits the Supreme Court today. The Bush administration is appealing a ruling that reads in part: “The filtering software mandated by CIPA will block access to substantial amounts of constitutionally protected free speech whose suppression serves no legitimate government interest.”
From the Reuters story:
The government appealed the decision, saying libraries are not forced to carry pornographic movies and magazines and should not be forced to make similar materials available online.
“A public library may exercise content-based judgments in deciding what information to make available to its patrons without violating the First Amendment,” the government wrote in its appeal.
Indeed they may exercise judgments, but not if the Federal government requires them to do something else.
This is especially troubling in light of the fact that libraries and schools are the only source of Internet access for many Americans.