Background: Senate Bill 2307 would require a public or school library to remove “explicit sexual material” or place it in an area of the library that is off limits to anyone younger than 18. The bill would require North Dakota’s attorney general to investigate any complaint about whether a library had allowed minors access to explicit sexual material, and order the state treasurer and superintendent of public instruction to halt any distribution of state funds to the offending library until the situation is rectified.
Our position: The ACLU of North Dakota opposes Senate Bill 2307. The First Amendment protects literary expression, even when some people find portions of the works difficult or objectionable. Senate Bill2307 is a blatant attempt at censorship.
No one is going to agree on the merits of every book on a library’s shelf. The First Amendment’s guarantee of the freedom of speech and the right to access information has created a beautiful marketplace of ideas in our country. Each of us gets to choose what books we read and what information we access — but we don’t get to choose for other people. Doing so is un-American and unconstitutional. Everyone should have the freedom to read.
