Idaho libraries must move materials deemed harmful to children, or face lawsuits, under new law

This is dystopian as f@ck. I feel so bad for anyone wanting to read (or view, listen to, etc) something this law deems "harmful". We know that by "harmful" they actually mean "anything that doesn't fit with our worldview". This affects adults and children alike. Ugh, I just can't anymore. So glad my child is an adult.

The Idaho Family Policy Center, a conservative Christian group that has spearheaded library-related legislation, said in a news release Wednesday that the bill “largely utilizes model language that was drafted by Idaho Family Policy Center last year.” The center said it is “directly responsible for mobilizing” more than 3,000 Idahans to contact Little’s office in support of the legislation over the past week.

I'm increasingly convinced that "model legislation" is one of the fundamental problems with our government. But I don't know that there's any way to actually do anything about it. And I supposed I don't know if it's used for policies I support as well, but I'd really rather we not just copy/paste this sort of thing.

Text of Bill No. 710:
(Edited to remove all the line breaks, line numbers, and strikethroughs, but keeping indentations to make it more legible)

AN ACT RELATING TO MINORS; AMENDING SECTION 18-1514, IDAHO CODE, TO REVISE A DEFINITION, TO DEFINE A TERM, AND TO MAKE A TECHNICAL CORRECTION; AMENDING CHAPTER 15, TITLE 18, IDAHO CODE, BY THE ADDITION OF A NEW SECTION 18-1517B, IDAHO CODE, TO PROVIDE A SHORT TITLE, TO PROHIBIT CERTAIN MATERIALS FROM BEING PROMOTED, GIVEN, OR MADE AVAILABLE TO A MINOR BY A SCHOOL OR PUBLIC LIBRARY, TO PROVIDE FOR A CAUSE OF ACTION, TO PROVIDE FOR DAMAGES, TO PROVIDE FOR INJUNCTIVE RELIEF, TO PROVIDE FOR AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES, TO PROVIDE FOR A FORM ALLOWING A PERSON TO REQUEST REVIEW OF MATERIAL THE PERSON CONSIDERS TO BE HARMFUL TO MINORS, AND TO PROVIDE FOR HOW AN ACTION MAY BE BROUGHT; AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:

SECTION 1. That Section 18-1514, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby amended to read as follows:

18-1514. OBSCENE MATERIALS -- DEFINITIONS. The following definitions are applicable to this act:

1. "Minor" means any person less than eighteen (18) years of age.
2. "Nudity" means the showing of the human male or female genitals, pubic area or buttocks with less than a full opaque covering, or the showing of the female breast with less than a full opaque covering of any portion thereof below the top of the nipple, or the depiction of covered male genitals in a discernibly turgid state.
3. "Sexual conduct" means any act of masturbation, homosexuality, sexual intercourse, or physical contact with a person's clothed or unclothed genitals, pubic area, buttocks or, if such person be a female, the breast.
4. "Sexual excitement" means the condition of human male or female genitals when in a state of sexual stimulation or arousal.
5. "Sado-masochistic abuse" means flagellation or torture by or upon a person who is nude or clad in undergarments, a mask or bizarre costume, or the condition of being fettered, bound or otherwise physically restrained on the part of one who is nude or so clothed.
6. "Harmful to minors" includes in its meaning the quality of any material or of any performance or of any description or representation, in whatever form, of nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or sado-masochistic abuse, when it:
     (a) Appeals to the prurient interest of minors as judged by the average person, applying contemporary community standards; and
     (b) Depicts or describes representations or descriptions of nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or sado-masochistic abuse which are patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community with respect to what is suitable material for minors and includes, but is not limited to, patently offensive representations or descriptions of:
      (i) Intimate sexual acts, normal or perverted, actual or simulated; or
      (ii) Masturbation, excretory functions or lewd exhibition of the genitals or genital area. Nothing herein contained is intended to include or proscribe any matter which, when considered as a whole, and in context in which it is used, possesses serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value for minors
7. "Material" means anything tangible which is harmful to minors, whether derived through the medium of reading, observation or sound.
8. "Performance" means any play, motion picture, dance or other exhibition performed before an audience.
9. "Promote" means to manufacture, issue, sell, give, provide, deliver, publish, distribute, circulate, disseminate, present, exhibit or advertise, or to offer or agree to do the same.
10. "Knowingly" means having general knowledge of, or reason to know, or a belief or reasonable ground for belief which that warrants further inspection or inquiry.
11. "School" means any public or private school providing instruction for students in kindergarten through grade 12.

SECTION 2. That Chapter 15, Title 18, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby amended by the addition thereto of a NEW SECTION, to be known and designated as Section 18-1517B, Idaho Code, and to read as follows:

18-1517B. CHILDREN'S SCHOOL AND LIBRARY PROTECTION. (1) This section shall be known and may be cited as the "Children's School and Library Protection Act."
(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a school or public library, or an agent thereof, shall not promote, give, or make available to a minor:
 (a) Any picture, photograph, drawing, sculpture, motion picture film, or similar visual representation or image of a person or portion of the human body that depicts nudity, sexual conduct, or sado-masochistic abuse and that is harmful to minors;
 (b) Any book, pamphlet, magazine, printed matter however reproduced, or sound recording that contains any matter pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subsection or explicit and detailed verbal descriptions or narrative accounts of sexual excitement, sexual conduct, or sado-masochistic abuse and that, taken as a whole, is harmful to minors; or
 (c) Any other material harmful to minors.
(3) Any minor who obtains material, or parent or legal guardian whose child obtained material, in violation of the provisions of subsection (2) of this section from a school or public library shall have a cause of action against such institution if:
 (a) The institution gave or made available material harmful to minors, or the institution failed to take reasonable steps to restrict access by minors to material harmful to minors;
 (b) Prior to the filing of a cause of action, the minor, parent, or legal guardian has provided written notice to the school or public library asking for the relocation of such material to a section designated for adults only within thirty (30) days of receipt of the written notice; and
 (c) Upon receipt of written notice and subsequent to the expiration of thirty (30) days, the institution's library board or board of trustees failed to relocate the material harmful to minors to an area with adult access only.
(4) Any minor, parent, or legal guardian who prevails in an action brought under this section may recover two hundred fifty dollars ($250) in statutory damages as well as actual damages and any other relief available by law, including but not limited to injunctive relief sufficient to prevent the defendant school or public library from violating the requirements of19
this section.
(5) A county prosecuting attorney or the attorney general shall have a cause of action for injunctive relief against any school or public library that violates the provisions of subsection (2) of this section. The injunction shall be sufficient to prevent the defendant school or public library from violating the requirements of this section.
(6) It shall be an affirmative defense to civil liability under this section that the defendant:
 (a) Had reasonable cause to believe that the minor involved was eighteen (18) years of age or older or such minor exhibited to the defendant a draft card, driver's license, birth certificate, or other official or apparently official document purporting to establish that the minor was eighteen (18) years of age or older; or
 (b) Verified the minor involved was accompanied, at the time of the act, by his parent or legal guardian, or by another adult and the adult represented that he was the minor's parent or legal guardian and signed a written statement to that effect.
(7) Each school and public library shall have a readily accessible form allowing a person to request review of material the person considers to be harmful to minors. Such form shall contain the definition of "harmful to minors," as provided in section 18-1514, Idaho Code.
(8) Any action brought pursuant to this section by or on behalf of a minor shall be in accordance with the provisions of chapter 9, title 6, Idaho Code, section 5-306, Idaho Code, and rule 17 of the Idaho rules of civil procedure.

SECTION 3. An emergency existing therefor, which emergency is hereby declared to exist, this act shall be in full force and effect on and after July 1, 2024.

p.s. IANAL, so please let me know if I messed anything up

More book banning bullshit. Pen America is pursuing a first amendment lawsuit in Florida The outcome of that will likely have implications for all of these laws.

Sado-masochistic abuse" means flagellation or torture by or upon a person who is nude or clad in undergarments, a mask or bizarre costume, or the condition of being fettered, bound or otherwise physically restrained on the part of one who is nude or so clothed.

I get what they're going for but like wouldn't Spiderman technically count as someone in a bizarre costume that ties people up.

I'm so sorry for the folks that call Idaho home, but your state was the most shocking for me in terms of unexpectedly natural beauty and unexpectedly aggressive people. It was the first and only state I've ever been coal rolled on while riding my bike or kicked out of a restaurant for wearing a mask. And I was only in areas with people/buildings for 2 days. This bill feels right on the money.

Is there a ranking of "best to worst" states in terms of Republican crappiness? It sucks, I always had a soft spot for Idaho. I hope the migration of intelligence towards blue states accelerates.