Committee advances S.B. 1448 to floor as fix to litigation concerns

The Judiciary, Rules and Administration committee advanced Senate Bill 1448 with a do-pass recommendation after lawyers and lawmakers described the measure as a narrow, court-driven effort to remove language a federal appeals court found problematic.

Phil Skinner, Chief Deputy Attorney General, told the committee there is ongoing litigation over the existing library law and that the 9th Circuit had indicated plaintiffs were “likely to prevail” on some points. Skinner said the bill removes or revises the specific phrasing the court identified and adds an "adolescent" definition so the statute’s obscenity test more closely mirrors the Miller test. "This bill to me is about saving attorney fees for the state and acquiescing to the court what seems to be the proper thing to do," Skinner said.

Lawmakers asked whether the changes go beyond what the courts required and whether the effort would expose the state to costs. Representative Handy asked if attorney-fee exposure would be reversed and whether fees could be recovered from the AG’s budget; Skinner responded that the office hopes the fixes will moot the case and cut off attorney-fee exposure. A motion to send S.B. 1448 to the floor received a do-pass recommendation; the transcript records nays but does not include a full roll-call tally.

The bill's sponsor said the intention is to resolve litigation without changing the underlying library policy. The committee adjourned after brief post-vote remarks about the expense of late-session legislative fixes.