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HB 95: a ban on banning

03 Tuesday Dec 2024

Posted by in Missouri General Assembly

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Bill prefiling for the 2025 legislative session has started.

A sad commentary on our times:

FIRST REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE BILL NO. 95 [pdf]
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE EALY.

0516H.01I
DANA RADEMAN MILLER, Chief Clerk

AN ACT

To amend chapter 1, RSMo, by adding thereto one new section relating to library collections.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:

Section A. Chapter 1, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto one new section, to be known as section 1.521, to read as follows:

1.521. 1. No library that receives any moneys from the federal government or the state or any political subdivision thereof shall ban or restrict access to any book or other resource in the library’s collection because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.

2. This section shall not be construed to require a library that receives any moneys from the federal government or the state or any political subdivision thereof to purchase or otherwise acquire a book or resource for inclusion in the library’s collection.

That is until the Fascists start burning them.

Never set foot in a library, eh, Jay (r)?

23 Sunday Apr 2023

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Jay Ashcroft (r) [2021 file photo]

This past week:

[image cropped]

Jay Ashcroft @JayAshcroftMO
Wouldn’t it be nice if the @MOlibraries said, “we agree, let’s work together to protect our kids from obscene materials,” instead of, “how dare you ask that we stop giving kids obscene materials!”?
[….]
8:08 AM · Apr 18, 2023

Pearl clutching Fascist pig.

Some of the responses:

Really? Have you been to a library?

This is not happening. Anywhere.

This is a pathetic attempt to pander to the far right base for your weak run at governor.

Also, how do you think kids get to the library?

Wouldn’t it be nice if Republicans hadn’t invented a new wedge issue in the first place?

There was already a process for book complaints. This is a solution in search of a problem, in service of your quest for unending political power.

Curious who gets to define obscene?

Have you ever been to a library?

Evidently not.

It would be even nicer if Republican politicians either showed us proof of “obscene” materials in libraries or stopped trying to defund libraries and intimidate librarians.

A library transaction is a voluntary one, even for children. The patron selects a book, the librarian uses the library catalog system to denote that the patron is now in possession of the book for a period of time. The patron leaves. That’s how libraries work, Jay.

The problem is your definition of “obscene” and how you view others. In other words…your bigotry.

Wouldn’t it be nice if government officials actually did their jobs instead of making things up to fight a “culture war”.

Jay Ashcroft (r) is running for Governor.

Wouldn’t it be nice if Republicans stopped emulating Nazi Germany by banning books, closing libraries and attempting to alter history, including censoring the fact that Rosa Parks was black???

So sad that the people of Missouri are currently stuck with a SOS of state that doesn’t even understand a library.

It would be even nicer if fascists stopped lying about everything they can’t understand or control.

That’s not what happened, you’re just a bigot

Have you ever been in a library before?

When my kids were younger, I always went to the library with them & they always brought the books to me they wanted to check out first. I had the choice to decide if appropriate or not.

It’s not rocket science!

Another Christian theocrat wiping his bum with the first amendment. Fundamentally unamerican, champ.

Omg, was your dad John Ashcroft, who embarrassed Missouri and the country by requiring drapes to cover the statue of Justice when he was AG? Figures.

Yes.

Odd way of showing how you’re not a responsible parent, Jay….

Meme submitted in response to Jay Ashcroft (r)

Tell me you’ve never been to a library without telling me you’ve never been to a library.

Lying to advance your political career. I guess that’s the Ashcroft family legacy. Pathetic.

The Ashcroft family’s definition of obscenity differs wildly from people significantly less prude than they are. Remember dad’s statue problem? Had to cover that boobie lest the world fall apart. Parents don’t need the government looking over their shoulders.

Heh. One of the funniest comments at the time about the photo of then Attorney General John Ashcroft (r) standing with the draped statue of Justice in the background was “The big boob is still visible in the photo, John.”

Wouldn’t it be great if elected officials worked for all of their constituents and stopped trying to legislate morality based upon their personal beliefs.

Wouldn’t it be nice if politicians did some research? I visit our public library in Columbia MO with my grandkids every week. We spend hours perusing their excellent collection of children’s literature. We have never encountered a single example of obscenity.

Ashcroft: Vote for me. I’ll find a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist and maybe shut down some libraries in the process!

Wouldn’t it be nice if republicans would worry about real issues instead of making up fake ones daily

Wouldn’t it be nice if you knew how libraries worked?

Wouldn’t it be nice if the christo-fascist nazi movement stopped trying to impose theo-political censorship on free Americans?

There it is.

When was the last time you spent any significant time in a library? Maybe quit tweeting pandering nonsense and go visit one for a day.

Shut it, fascist

Stop talking about doing things for the children. If you actually cared about kids, pre school through secondary ed would be fully funded, including libraries, art and music. Daycare would be fully tax deductible. Kids wouldn’t be paying the price for white guys to own ARs.

Wouldn’t it be nice if people parented their own kids and stopped trying to parent mine!

Kids should definitely be protected from obscene books like the Bible.

Wouldn’t it be nice if you were bright enough to understand the mission of public libraries and know that they aren’t pushing obscenity on anyone?

Libraries don’t buy pornography. You’re defining “obscene materials” as anything that you personally don’t like – like a penguin with two dads or books with gay characters. But public libraries serve the PUBLIC. Not just fundamentalist Christians.

Got proof? I’m guessing you don’t as you have clearly never been in a library. Instead you’ve just made up an issue that doesn’t exist to try to convince people you know what you’re doing. I’m not buying it. You have no clue. Just admit your lie.

Wouldn’t it be nice if RW fundamentalists let parents decide what they want their children to read? Pure gaslighting.

We don’t want you to tell our kids what they can and can’t read.

Obscene like Ann Frank? Obscene like Harry Potter? Obscene like the Bible? Which obscene are you talking about, Jay?

Wouldn’t it be nice if you would leave our libraries alone? They are a place for everyone, not just for Christian fascists.

Wouldn’t it be nice if you actually went to a library and saw that there isn’t porn just laying around. And understood that if you don’t want your kid to read something you don’t need too…but you also don’t get to decide for my kid.

Wouldn’t it be nice if MO politicians worked on issues that would actually improve the lives of Missourians instead of fake culture war issues?

Wouldn’t it be nice if our MO Secretary of State wasn’t gaslighting and sabotaging the very libraries he pretends to support in order to operate a scam fundraising campaign out of his public office? We see your scam. Fake rule changes so Jay can $ out to run. Sad.

For generations libraries have been a tower of virtues. A place of knowledge and research. You could learn about Karl Marx, Thomas Jefferson, or what a parliamentary government is. The holder of all knowledge. They don’t force it on you. You seek it.

Someone who has actually been in a public library.

Protip… the ones banning books are never on the right side of history

Wouldn’t it be nice if you bothered to learn a thing or two about how libraries are run?

Have you considered becoming a better person?

Evidently not.

No one mistakes your bigotry for anything other than what it is.

I’ve never had a librarian force my children to read any books.

Classic straw-man argument, and not even a clever one. How did you even get through law school?

Legacy?

Wouldn’t it be great if MO GOP admitted they made up yet another problem that doesn’t exist and decided to try to solve a real issue that would actually help Missourians?

So, you’ve never actually been to library, have you?

You are being ridiculous, Mr. Ashcroft. No one is giving kids obscene materials at public schools or libraries.

MO Library Association @MOlibraries
Wouldn’t it be nice if your Sec of State consulted ANY librarians before making accusations and rules that impact their daily operations?
#FreedomToRead
[….]
11:15 AM · Apr 21, 2023

MO Library Association @MOlibraries
Wouldn’t it be nice if your Sec of State realized that libraries don’t “give” kids anything? We provide books that kids (with their parents’ involvement) can choose or not.
#FreedomToRead #WhatLibrariesDo
[….]
11:16 AM · Apr 21, 2023

That’s quite ratio there, Jay (r).

Is there a Louisiana, Missouri?*

26 Sunday Mar 2023

Posted by in Congress

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* Why, yes, there is!

Last week from a right wingnut republican member of Congress from the state of Louisiana:

Rep. Clay Higgins @RepClayHiggins
Over time, American communities will build beautiful, church owned public-access libraries. I’m going to help these churches get funding. We will change the whole public library paradigm.

The libraries regular Americans recall are gone. They’ve become liberal grooming centers.
12:53 PM · Mar 23, 2023

Clay Higgins (r) does not represent Missouri. I had to check, though. Heh.

Some of the responses:

Eat a roadkill armadillo, Clay.
When’s the last time you visited a library or read a book, ya doof?

Definitely never visited a public library.

have you considered seeing a therapist

Congrats man, you invented the dark ages

Heh. Someone just won the internets today.

What would you define as a “regular American?”

Dog whistle.

When was the last time you went to a library, or even read a book?

I love public and college libraries.
Have experienced zero grooming.
Stuffed my head full of facts & entertainment.
Ended up smarter than you.
(Grooming centers my ass. Went a couple days ago, & the librarian gave me a dirty look because my returned books had raindrops on them.)

Maybe you should’ve spent more time in libraries.
Might’ve ended up less dumb.
[….]

Rep. Higgins, I’m not sure “America but the Taliban are in charge” is quite the home run policy regime you seem to think it is.

“If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be. An informed citizenry is at the heart of a dynamic democracy.” — Thomas Jefferson.

Awesome, my church, The Church Of Beezlebub at Beaver Lick , would like to be one of the first. Should I call your office Monday to discuss how we can get this going or do you prefer another way?

“Grooming center”… like a barbershop? [….] #HereForTheRatio

What tripe.
I am a retired school and public librarian. How dare you say defamatory and patently false things about my life’s work.
If you want a Christian library, go for it, but to say that we are ‘groomers’ because we don’t subscribe to YOUR religious viewpoint is outrageous.

If you don’t believe in separation of church and state then you clearly don’t believe in the Bill of rights, meaning you don’t believe in what this country stands for or what it was built on. Leave government.

We are not a christo fascist nation. Separation of church and state, bro — also, churches need to pay taxes. Thanks for playing.

Church controlled libraries. Now they wanna monitor what citizens can and cannot read. And tell me again how the Republican Party stands for freedom?

Tell me you haven’t been to a library without telling me you haven’t been to a library

HEY! This is not a police church state. I do not want religious zealots saying what is ok to read. What you find unacceptable, I call art. Some thing that a person poured their time and ideas into. I DO NOT WANT YOU BE A PART OF YOUR CHURCH STATE!

You are everything that’s wrong with this country.

The people complaining the most about libraries don’t actually read books.

which church will be the correct one? ?

The last library I went into was full of books that you could check out, and it was open to the public, and there was 0 grooming going on, there was however, a lot of people… wait for it… reading [….]

Thanks for being honest about your plan to steal federal funds for Christians, I guess

So you want to give churches my tax dollars to build public libraries?

Why wouldn’t we cut out the middle man and build public libraries ourselves?

Thanks for your steadfast work and your steadfast love of The Lord! We have a chance with men like you willing to step into the gap.

Fewer than 50% of Louisiana students read at grade level. Maybe focus on that.

That’s considered a feature, not a bug.

You can build all the private Christofascist grooming book deposits you want…it will never happen with public funds because we have a constitution. Or, you could all move to an island and start your own Christian theocracy. We’d help you all pack.

WTF are you talking about? Churches are free to have their own libraries, most do. Federal funding for that is a big NO NO. We like our public libraries just the way they are.

Publicly funded libraries have always been a point of pride for America. It’s insanity to suggest that this should be abolished and replaced with church libraries. Unpatriotic.

Which churches are to get funding?

Just purely as a nonsensical and useless hypothetical for you to consider when asked.

Just churches.

Shouldn’t you consider maybe reading a book first?

Baby steps. Chunk it out.

And then we’ll put these private libraries in castles with moats, and we’ll have wealthy people, we’ll call them “lords” who’ll oversee them and have the uneducated masses, “serfs” you might call them, work the land. It will be just like the good old days. [….]

Gated communities would work, too.

It’s almost as if libraries are places of learning, and their open-minded and accessible values threaten those who would thrive in a society that increases their privilege…

I’d much rather see you invest in a Time Machine so you can go back to the Middle Ages you long for.

How many books are you going to ban? How much art?

Most of it.

“Church-owned library” would be the most boring place ever, though. You’d limit the selections so tightly that it wouldn’t be worth visiting. You’d populate it with anti-history and anti-science horsepucky. No, thank you.

Christofascist flex, but ok.

This is the most offensive and vapid tweet I have seen in a long time. Nobody cares about your idea of a library. We want religion out of politics and libraries where anyone is welcomed! Go away!

No we will not. Churches have and will continue to have private libraries but they will not replace our public libraries ever.
Those I know about have almost exclusively religious texts, usually with an emphasis on those significant to beliefs.

Sounds like you want to restrict information.

Nothing like a religious institution moderating knowledge

You should pick up a book sometime and read about what happens when churches control the books.

Please, as if you even know what a library is.

So will these libraries of your fantasy adequately represent the non-Christians in our nation or are they fresh out of luck?

That’s considered a feature, not a bug.

Keep your church out of my books!

HB 2044: Wouldn’t it just be easier to burn all of the books?

16 Thursday Jan 2020

Posted by in Missouri General Assembly, Missouri House

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Just asking.

A bill:

HB 2044
Establishes the “Parental Oversight of Public Libraries Act”
Sponsor: Baker, Ben (160)
Proposed Effective Date: 8/28/2020
LR Number: 4634H.01I
Last Action: 01/09/2020 – Read Second Time (H)
Bill String: HB 2044
Next House Hearing: Hearing not scheduled
Calendar: Bill currently not on a House calendar

The devil is in the details:

SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE BILL NO. 2044 [pdf]
100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE BAKER.

4634H.01I DANA RADEMAN MILLER, Chief Clerk

AN ACT

To repeal section 181.060, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof two new sections relating to parental oversight of public libraries, with penalty provisions.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:

[….]

5. No public library shall receive any state aid under this section if such library allows minors to access age-inappropriate sexual materials in violation of section 182.821.

182.821. 1. This section shall be known and may be cited as the “Parental Oversight of Public Libraries Act”.

2. As used in this section, the following terms mean:

(1) “Age-inappropriate sexual material”, any description or representation, in any form, of nudity, sexuality, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or sadomasochistic abuse, that:
(a) Taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest of minors;
(b) Is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community with respect to what is appropriate material for minors; and
(c) Taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors;

(2) “Geographical area”, any village, town, city, county, library district, or other area with established boundaries in which a library is established or for which a library is established to provide library services;

(3) “Public library”, any library that receives state aid under section 181.060 and that provides public access to age-inappropriate sexual material.

3. Each public library shall establish a parental library review board as provided in this subsection.
(1) At least thirty calendar days before the election of a board under this subsection, the governing body of the public library shall notify all qualified voters residing within the library’s geographical area that an election for members of the library’s parental library review board will be held at a regularly convened hearing of the village, town, city, or county in which the majority of the library’s geographical area lies. At such hearing, the qualified voters present shall elect the members of the board by a majority vote. The five individuals receiving the highest number of votes cast by the qualified voters present shall be members of the board.
(2) The board shall be composed of five adult residents of the public library’s geographical area. Each board member shall serve a term of two years. Any vacancy shall be filled in the same manner in which the member was initially elected, except that if a member vacates the office before the end of the member’s term, the vacancy shall be filled for the remainder of the unexpired term only. No member of the board shall receive any compensation for any actions related to fulfilling board duties. No member of the board shall be an employee of the library, the state, or any political subdivision thereof.
(3) (a) The board shall determine whether any sexual material provided to the public by the public library is age-inappropriate sexual material. To make such determinations, the board shall convene public hearings at which members of the community may present concerns to the board. After receiving comments from the public, the board shall examine individual instances of the questioned sexual material to determine whether it is age-inappropriate sexual material under this section.
(b) The board may order any material deemed to be age-inappropriate sexual material to be removed from public access by minors at the public library.
(c) Any such determination or order made by the board shall be the final determination or order on such materials, and shall not be subject to any review by the governing body of the public library, the state, or any political subdivision thereof. This subdivision shall not be construed to prohibit judicial review of any determination or order made by the board under this section.

4. Each public library shall, on or before June thirtieth of each year, verify compliance with this section on any form created by the board. After such compliance is verified, the library shall post the verification in a conspicuous place for public viewing at the library.

5. Any public library personnel who willfully neglects or refuses to perform any duty imposed on a public library under this section, or who willfully violates any provision of this section, is guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars or by imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed one year.

Wait, how are we supposed to elect the book burning brigade?

“…At least thirty calendar days before the election of a board under this subsection, the governing body of the public library shall notify all qualified voters residing within the library’s geographical area that an election for members of the library’s parental library review board will be held at a regularly convened hearing of the village, town, city, or county in which the majority of the library’s geographical area lies. At such hearing, the qualified voters present shall elect the members of the board by a majority vote. The five individuals receiving the highest number of votes cast by the qualified voters present shall be members of the board…”

Uh, who counts the votes? What happens if there’s a dispute about the election or the vote count?

“…To make such determinations, the board shall convene public hearings at which members of the community may present concerns to the board….”

Ah, public governance by pearl clutchers.

That’s never a good idea.

Wait, if a member of the public is not a parent can they run for the book burning “parental” review board? Just asking.

“…Any public library personnel who willfully neglects or refuses to perform any duty imposed on a public library under this section, or who willfully violates any provision of this section, is guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars or by imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed one year.”

First they came for the librarians who made classic and new juvenile literature available to juveniles…