By Ruth Brown, Idaho Reports 

The House State Affairs Committee introduced a new version of the bill regarding “obscene materials” in public libraries that the governor vetoed last year. 

Rep. Jaron Crane, R-Nampa, sponsored the bill Wednesday and said it addresses concerns the governor had with last year’s bill. The bill, which he is calling the Children and Library Protection Act, does not ban books. It would allow libraries 30 days to relocate any material found in a children’s section of the library that’s deemed obscene.  

If the material is not relocated, a civil cause of action may be filed against the school or public library, but the new bill caps that reward at $250 for statutory damages. 

“I guarantee that won’t bankrupt any library here in Idaho,” Crane told the committee. 

When Gov. Brad Little vetoed last year’s bill, he wrote in his veto letter that “Allowing any parent, regardless of intention, to collect $2,500 in automatic fines creates a library bounty system that will only increase the costs local libraries incur, particularly rural libraries.” 

However, the bill introduced Wednesday does still allow for “actual damages” which does not have a cap for what a complainant may collect.  

Under the bill, content could be deemed harmful to minors when “judged by the average person, applying contemporary community standards.” 

Much of last year’s debate revolved around how the bill defines “obscene materials.”  

The new bill still includes nudity, sexual conduct including masturbation and homosexuality, sexual excitement, and sado-masochistic abuse as factors that could be “patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community with respect to what is suitable material for minors.”  

The bill still must receive a public hearing before moving forward. A hearing date had not been set, as of Wednesday morning.  

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