State Representative Thomas Hooker (R-Byron Center) has introduced legislation to ensure no one is watching pornographic material on library computers. House Bill 4890 would amend the library privacy act by requiring that libraries install software on all computers that will restrict access to material described as “obscene, child pornography, or harmful to minors.”
Library computers currently allow unrestricted access to adults over 18 years of age while minors are restricted.
Representative Hooker is not the first Michigan Legislator to pursue the reform. Representative Tom McMillin (R-Rochester Hills) sponsored the measure last session. In 2000, former Representative Dale Sheltrown (D-West Branch) introduced similar legislation.
Some, however, are concerned that the measure may run afoul of a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling regarding access to information, such as health, lifestyle or political information.