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House passes bill removing public‑institution exemption in obscenity law after heated debate
Summary
House Bill 12-39 passed 38-32. The bill removes an exemption that treated publicly funded institutions differently under South Dakota's laws on dissemination of material harmful to minors and obscenity. Lawmakers sharply disagreed over whether the change criminalizes librarians and how schools should respond to challenged books.
The South Dakota House approved House Bill 12-39 by a vote of 38-32, a bill that removes an existing statutory exemption for publicly funded institutions from certain provisions governing material "harmful to minors" and obscenity.
Representative Soy, the bill's sponsor, told the House the change would hold public institutions — including school and public libraries — to the same standards as private entities and individuals. The sponsor cited examples of titles parents consider inappropriate, said other states have adopted similar changes without prosecutions of librarians, and urged colleagues to "hold our publicly funded institutions to the same standard that apply to everyone else." Soy said 12 other states have removed comparable exemptions.
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