PIERRE — State lawmakers in the South Dakota State House believe that a measure signed into law last session dealing with graphic material in school libraries didn’t go far enough.
The State House passed Rep. Bethany Soye’s House Bill 1239 38-32, which would update South Dakota’s criminal code to remove current protections given to public schools and libraries preventing them from being charged with crimes for distributing material harmful to minors. District 20 Representative Kaley Nolz voted yes while Representative Jeff Bathke voted no.
The legislation follows a bill last year signed into law. by Gov. Kristi Noem that requires public school districts and libraries to publish steps they have taken to restrict access of obscene materials by minors.
Soye says that bill did not move the needle, and had been disregarded by local entities. Her HB 1239 puts “teeth” into the concept.
“It said you must have a policy, but the American Library Association told our state and libraries that they did not need to make any changes because the law did not apply to them anyways.”
The bill is a product of a contentious national debate that has roiled over into South Dakota. Concerned parents and citizens have contested the selection of books that have been added into public collections to no avail, they say. Video clips of people reading graphic materials from library books at local government meetings have gone viral on social media.
South Dakota has not escaped that phenomenon, either. The Sioux Falls city government displayed a warning label on a public recording of a city council meeting last year, after activists there read sexually graphic material from books they had checked out from local libraries to protest Mayor Paul TenHaken said such legislative efforts were unnecessary. In a similar fashion, Soye distributed excerpts Thursday from a sexually graphic book she had checked out. The book depicts instances of rape and prostitution.
“I would encourage you to peruse through the handout, but I won’t read it aloud but because I would be gaveled down,” Soye explained. “And since this is being broadcasted right now, FCC rules would apply and the television stations would be fined for obscenity laws.”
Opponents of the idea took issue with the mechanism in law that the Sioux Falls Republican sought to change. Multiple legislators contended that the proposal to update the criminal code would result in librarians being arrested. Because the legislation removes the affirmative defense protection for schools and libraries — it would become a misdemeanor for them to do so.
“This makes a pathway to send librarians to jail,” said Rep. Will Mortenson. “It doesn’t do anything to change how these book policies are put together… There is plenty of work we can do on these book policies, but this bill is only about librarians going to jail.”
Several lawmakers echoed Mortenson’s concerns, sharing personal and emotional anecdotes about how the measure could impact friends or family members of theirs.
“The only word that comes to mind is how embarrassed I am to be a legislator today,” said Vermillion Republican Chris Kassin. “I am a parent… The idea that protecting kids isn’t at the top of mind isn’t at the top of mind is ludicrous, its a priority for me.”
Soye pushed back on that argument. She noted that she had drafted her legislation based on several other states that had passed extremely similar bills, and that in those states no incidences of arrests of librarians had occurred.
“It is a total red herring to talk about anatomy books, encyclopedias… Clearly those don’t count, read the definitions,” Soye said.
HB 1239 enjoys the endorsement of a number of conservative leaning advocacy groups, such as Family Voice and the state’s Catholic Conference. Both the South Dakota Education Association and the South Dakota Library Association have come out against it.