ACLU Suit Seeks Access to Information on Internet for Library Patrons

Today the Washington Supreme Court hears oral argument in an ACLU of Washington lawsuit to defend the rights of adults to access information on the Internet on public library computers. It is challenging a filtering policy that hampers adults in researching academic assignments, locating businesses and organizations, and engaging in personal reading on lawful subjects.

The ACLU is representing three library users and a nonprofit organization in the lawsuit (Bradburn v. NCRL) filed in 2006 to ensure that patrons of the five-county North Central Regional Library (NCRL) in eastern Washington have access to useful and constitutionally protected information. The lawsuit challenges the library system's policy of refusing to honor requests by adult patrons to temporarily disable a filter on public computers for sessions of reading and research.

The policy impacts residents in a largely rural area who rely on the public library for Internet access. NCRL has set its filter to block access to an ever-shifting list of websites. Sites that the library's filter has blocked adults from viewing include:

• the website of an organization encouraging individuals to commit random acts of kindness (www.kindnessusa.org)
• the Seattle Women's Jazz Orchestra website
• the website of an organization encouraging women to carry to term by creating "a supportive environment for women in crisis situations to be introduced to the love of Christ" (www.acceptpregnancy.org)
• YouTube

"Community libraries are a valuable resource for a wide variety of information. Libraries should not deny adults using publicly available computers the opportunity to view research material and other lawful information," said ACLU Legal Director Sarah Dunne.

The North Central Regional Library District operates 28 community libraries in Chelan, Douglas, Ferry, Grant, and Okanogan Counties. The NCRL has used a blocking software product called FortiGuard to filter Internet content on all public computers at its branch libraries. The NCRL has configured FortiGuard to block a broad array of lawful information, and the NCRL refuses to commit to promptly unblocking sites for patrons.

The lawsuit contends that the library system's policy of refusing to disable its Internet filters at the request of adults who wish to conduct bona fide research or to access the Web for other lawful purposes violates the United States and Washington State Constitutions. The suit seeks an order directing the NCRL to disable its Internet filter when adults request it.

Libraries that receive funds for Internet access under two specific federal programs are required to have the ability to block minors from seeing materials deemed "harmful to minors." The U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted the law to mean that libraries may disable those filters upon the request of an adult. But NCRL has adopted a policy of blocking access for adults to all materials it deems inappropriate for children.

Under the state constitution, people in Washington have the right to "freely speak, write and publish on all subjects" (Article I, Section 5). NCRL's policy of full-time filtering for adults is overbroad, and the library has no reasonable justification for denying adult patrons access to the substantial amount of information it blocks.

The U.S. District Court in Spokane has requested that the Washington Supreme Court provide guidance on the state constitutional issues raised in the case. Still pending a decision by the federal court are the issues raised under the U.S. Constitution.

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit are:

• Sarah Bradburn, a resident of Republic in Ferry County, who has been blocked from using NCRL computers to research an academic assignment about youth tobacco usage while studying at Eastern Washington University to become a drug and alcohol counselor. Because she had no Internet access at home, she had to travel to Spokane to use its library's computers for the information she sought.
• Pearl Cherrington, a resident of Twisp in Okanogan County, a professional photographer specializing in landscapes and outdoor scenes who has been blocked from using NCRL computers to conduct research on art galleries and health issues. NCRL filters also blocked her from access to YouTube.
• Charles Heinlen, a resident of Okanogan in Okanogan County, who has been blocked from using NCRL computers to access the blog he maintains on MySpace, as well information relating to firearms use by hunters, fine arts, and other lawful information.
• The Second Amendment Foundation, a nonprofit organization with more than 600,000 members nationwide and headquarters in Bellevue. The Foundation undertakes education, research, publishing, and legal action focusing on the constitutional right to own and possess firearms. The NCRL has blocked access to the Foundation-sponsored magazine Women & Guns.

Handling the case are ACLU-WA cooperating attorneys Duncan Manville of Savitt Bruce LLP and Aaron Caplan of Loyola Law School of Los Angeles; National ACLU staff attorney Catherine Crump; and ACLU-WA staff attorney Harry Williams.

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