Date: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 15:13:45 -0700 From: richter@eecs.berkeley.edu (Jean Richter) Subject: 10/23/97 P.E.R.S.O.N. Project news 1. UT: More on lesbian teacher's lawsuit over gag order 2. CA: Plaintiffs sought for Kern County library blocking software suit 3. PA: Lower Merion school district approves domestic partner benefits =================================================================== DESERET NEWS, October 22, 1997 Box 1257,Salt Lake City,UT,84110 (Fax 801-237-2121, print run 64,671) (E-MAIL: letters@desnews.com) Nebo School District abuzz over volleyball coach's lawsuit Gay woman is fighting gag order from Spanish Fork High administrators. By Joe Costanzo and Edward L. Carter Deseret News staff writers [Deleted article. filemanager@qrd.org] ==================================================================== Date: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 16:21:43 -0400 (EDT) X-Sender: beeson@panix.com (Unverified) From: Ann Beeson Subject: challenge to mandatory use of blocking software at libraries I am a staff attorney at the ACLU national legal department in New York, and I work on cases involving free speech and cyberspace. (For example, I was one of the lawyers in _Reno v. ACLU, in which the Supreme Court recently struck down the Communications Decency Act.) Patricia Nell Warren recommended you as a person who might be able to help me with another Internet case we are planning in Kern County, California (Bakersfield), to challenge the mandatory use of blocking software at public libraries. The memo below describes the case in more detail. We are currently looking for plaintiffs who live in Kern County, and in particular we are looking for teenagers who use the Internet to access valuable information that is blocked by the blocking program. Feel free to distribute the memo below to interested persons. If you have additional questions about the case, I'll be glad to answer them. Thanks, Ann Beeson ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------ MEMORANDUM RE: Challenging the Mandatory Use of Blocking Software at Public Libraries FROM: Ann Beeson, ACLU National Legal Dept. DATE: October 23, 1997 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------ The ACLU is considering litigation against Kern County, California (the Bakersfield area) for violating the free speech rights of library patrons and certain speakers on the Internet. As described in more detail below, Kern County is preventing adults and minors from accessing a wide variety of valuable information through Internet terminals at public libraries. The ACLU is interested in contacting people who live in Kern County who may be willing to participate as plaintiffs in the suit. Last year, the Kern County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution requiring the Kern County public libraries to restrict the availability of controversial material to minors over Internet access terminals in the libraries. The libraries then installed a blocking program called "BESS," which is produced by a company called N2H2. The program is installed on every Internet access terminal, those used by adults as well as minors. The policy requires that the blocking program remain active whenever "a minor is present," and there appears to be no established procedure for adults to request unblocked Internet access. This past summer, the ACLU conducted research on BESS and determined that the program blocks access to a wide variety of sites that contain valuable information for minors as well as adults. BESS blocks access to AIDS and HIV-related speech, safer sex information, art sites with classic nudes, gay and lesbian issues and literature, graphic human rights reports, information about fighting hate groups online, and information about female genital mutilation. We believe the mandatory use of BESS in the library violates the First Amendment rights of library patrons and Internet speakers who wish to communicate constitutionally protected information. It would be clearly unconstitutional for a public library to remove from the shelves books that contain graphic descriptions of human rights abuses, or information about safer sex, simply because the library disapproved of the content. It is equally unconstitutional for the library to block access to controversial material on the Internet. We are interested in contacting Kern County residents who use the library to access valuable material on the Internet that is likely to be blocked by BESS, and who may be interested in being a plaintiff in this potential litigation. If you live in Kern County, and you are interested in participating in this important battle for online free speech, please send an e-mail message to Ann Beeson, Staff Attorney, ACLU National Legal Department, at beeson@aclu.org. We will then send you a follow-up memo with additional information about the commitment to participate in the lawsuit. There is no financial contribution required to participate. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ann Beeson, Staff Attorney, Nat'l Legal Dept. American Civil Liberties Union 125 Broad Street, NY, NY 10004 212-549-2601 (ph), 212-549-2651 (fax) beeson@aclu.org ============================================================================ PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, October 22, 1997 PO Box 8263,Philadelphia,PA,19101 (Fax 215-854-4483, print run 515,523) (E-MAIL: inquirer.editorial@phillynews.com)( http://www.phillynews.com) PANEL OKS INSURING SAME-SEX PARTNERS LOWER MERION'S EXTENSION OF HEALTH BENEFITS ENDS A DISPUTE WITH THE TEACHERS' UNION. By Anne Barnard, INQUIRER CORRESPONDENT [Deleted article. filemanager@qrd.org] ===================================================================== Jean Richter -- richter@eecs.berkeley.edu The P.E.R.S.O.N. Project (Public Education Regarding Sexual Orientation Nationally) CHECK OUT OUR INFO-LOADED WEB PAGE AT: http://www.youth.org/loco/PERSONProject/