ACLU gives Kern County Ultimatum, tries to bully Austin

[atroncale]

     The Supreme Court in Reno v. ACLU held that the Internet, as much as 
     the books and newspapers found in our public libraries, is entitled to 
     the very highest level of First Amendment protection...
     
     
     nuf said
     
     


______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: ACLU gives Kern County Ultimatum, tries to bully Austin
Author:  Filtering Facts <David_Burt at filteringfacts.org> at Internet
Date:    1/21/98 11:06 PM


The ACLU extortionists are at again:
     
http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,18332,00.html
     
ACLU threatens suit on Net
                filters 
                By Courtney Macavinta
                January 21, 1998, 1:15 p.m. PT 
     
                The American Civil Liberties Union has given a 
                Southern California library system ten days to 
                remove Net filtering software from its computers or 
                risk being slammed with a lawsuit.
     
And from the ACLU CYBER-LIBERTIES UPDATE 
JANUARY 19, 1998
     
City of Austin Stalls Response on ACLU Information Request Despite AG 
Order
     
Even after receiving an opinion from the Texas Attorney General's 
Office, the City of Austin has yet to fully comply with a request made 
under the state open records law by the ACLU for copies of documents 
related to the City's installation of blocking software on Internet 
access terminals in the public libraries.
     
The ACLU believes that the use of filtering software in libraries 
violates the First Amendment, because it blocks access to a wide range 
of valuable and constitutionally protected sites. 
     
"Filtering software is particularly problematic because it is unreliable 
and often blocks a much wider spectrum of speech than legally obscene 
speech, including speech about women's health, safe sex and other 
valuable information," ACLU Staff Attorney Ann Beeson said. "We would 
like to review the complaints filed by patrons to ensure that their free 
speech rights are being protected."
     
In an opinion letter dated December 29, the Texas Attorney General 
informed the City law department that the records must be disclosed to 
the ACLU.
     
Under the Texas Open Records Act, the government must comply with a 
request for public records within ten days.  The city released some of 
the documents to the ACLU in redacted form on Jan. 13, but did not fully 
comply, saying that other documents were being withheld pending an 
appeal by the City to the Attorney General for reconsideration of the 
opinion requiring full disclosure. 
     
"The Supreme Court in Reno v. ACLU held that the Internet, as much as 
the books and newspapers found in our public libraries, is entitled to 
the very highest level of First Amendment protection," Beeson said.
     
     
     
***************************************************************************** 
David Burt, Filtering Facts, HTTP://WWW.FILTERINGFACTS.ORG 
David_Burt at filteringfacts.org