Idaho’s State-Sponsored Porn
Why is Rep. Yamamoto defending state-sponsored porn and obscenity?
Prevailing Supreme Court decisions on obscenity make it difficult to regulate obscene books, films and performances that private parties produce and sell. A large porn industry has grown in America as a result. Government itself need not sponsor porn itself.
The Idaho legislature is dealing with drag queen performances and pornographic books in school libraries and public libraries.
First, the drag issue. HB265 has several parts. One part prevents governments from providing public facilities for sexual exhibitions. The more difficult section bans sexual exhibitions when minors are present. On one level, of course, it is ridiculous that we have to ban sexual exhibitions where minors are present. Copulating in public is still a crime! According to the law, “acts, whether actual or simulated, of masturbation, sexual intercourse, or physical contact with a person’s unclothed genitals or pubic area” done in the presence of a minor would be grounds for a civil action. Not a crime, but a private action subject to damages of up to $10,000. The bill has passed the House 48-21, with eleven Republicans joining the ten Democrats voting against it. Among those who voted against the bill were Julie Yamamoto (R-Caldwell).
We live in a bizzaro world where, given the current state of law, this is a relatively tough issue. Our laws are, of course, monumentally debasing and stupid, but it is what it is.
Perhaps 265 will pass. We shall see in the coming weeks. We are not holding our breath given the developments on the library front.
Government-sponsored porn is a different matter. There is no reason to protect government officials from handing out pornography to children in schools. If a stranger handed a child pornography, the public would demand action. Why should school librarians be able to hand out porn while being protected by the law? Maybe groomers and perverts will just sign up to be librarians!
Idaho’s House Education Committee was considering the School and Library Protection Act, which created civil penalties—private causes of action—for public officials handing out pornographic material to minors during the past weeks.
A bill exposing librarians to criminal prosecution and small fines passed the House in 2022. It was killed when Sen. Chuck Winder sent the approved House bill to the committee of someone (let’s let her name disappear to the winds!) who has revealed herself as a fake Republican (when she endorsed the Democrat Attorney General). This year, the committee killed the bill.
Committee members blathered about free speech and pretended to know what they were talking about. We cannot ban porn. It might lead us to ban To Kill a Mockingbird! Or1984! They cannot tell the difference between Let's Talk about It and War and Peace! (Hint: marriage and appropriateness!) This argument is just bunk. Idaho school libraries are sponsoring pornography. The government buys the books. The government stacks the books. The government loans the books. The government fines those who do not return the books. State-sponsored pornography.
In the past year, Rep. Julie Yamamoto has fallen in love with state-sponsored pornography.
Julie Yamamoto supported the House bill last year, but she killed the similarly-purposed bill in her committee this year.
Moreover, Gov. Little has remained entirely quiet on the porn in the library issue. He is a hidden-hand executive, letting his minions like Julie Yamamoto kill the most common-sense regulations.
Julie Yamamoto and Gov. Little both have state-sponsored porn on their hands!