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Upper Arlington, Ohio

Two free newspapers distributed in Upper Arlington library lobbies are not obscene and are not harmful to juveniles, according to a preliminary report presented at a library board meeting July 12. The Gay People's Chronicle and Outlook Weekly will continue to be distributed at the libraries. But a separate legal opinion by the Franklin County prosecutor's office said that all free publications could be removed from the lobbies and put behind a counter.

The report was prepared by library board president Mark Magill and trustee Dan Boda, who held a public hearing five days earlier on whether the two lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender papers should be removed from the Columbus suburb's library system. Led by resident Mark Bloom and Upper Arlington council member Tim Rankin, a small group wanted the papers taken out of the libraries, where many free publications are available to be picked up.

The board meeting drew a much smaller crowd of about forty people, compared to the over one hundred twenty attending the public hearing. Boda recapped the nature of the hearing. “Even though almost all of the forty-two people [speaking at the hearing] addressed the Gay People's Chronicle and Outlook,” he said, “we are forming a policy that addresses all aspects of all the free material available at our libraries.”

Two issues were examined by Magill and Boda: if the two gay publications should be immediately removed for being first, pornographic or second, harmful to juveniles. Boda said that after consulting with the city's prosecutor's office, they determined that the two papers “were neither.” They “don't fit any of those definitions,” he said.

Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney Ron O'Brien's office wrote an opinion on the matter's legal aspects for the library. Written by First Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Patrick E. Sheeran, the document has three main findings. First, if and when the board decided to take any action, “materials may not be totally banned unless they are found by the board to be obscene.” The second finding was that, “Access to such material may not be restricted unless the board finds them to be, or tending to be, materials that are harmful to juveniles.” The third finding states, “The Upper Arlington Library Board may constitutionally avoid making such determinations by removing all materials from the foyer and restricting them to library patrons who request them.”

The legal brief, which cites precedents in similar matters, also said, “The fact that some materials may be harmful to juveniles does not authorize a library from an outright prohibition of those items. In fact, the Supreme Court has held to the contrary: a total ban is not constitutionally permissible.”

Reported in: Gay People's Chronicle, July 22.