(Headline USA) New Jersey Democrat Gov. Phil Murphy signed a law Monday to prohibit public schools and libraries from imposing restrictions on pornography and other inappropriate content in the state, while indemnifying librarians against civil and criminal charges for granting access to children, regardless of parental approval.
New Jersey becomes the latest Democrat-led state to enact a ban on parent-driven restrictions, joining Illinois and Minnesota.
“It’s the antithesis of all these book banning states that you see,” Murphy said during a bill-signing cermony at Princeton’s public library, a short walk from Princeton University’s ivy-draped campus.
“I’m incredibly proud to have signed it, but also acknowledge that America—and this is yet another good example—is becoming a patchwork quilt country,” Murphy continued. “It really matters where you live.”
Despite Murphy’s eagerness to celebrate the widening divide of idealogical polarization and division in America, the 2024 election saw Republican Donald Trump gain more than 5 percentage points, narrowing the gap to just six percentage points from what has historically been a double-digit margin.
Some believe the divisiveness of Murphy’s leadership, along with the recent scandal surrounding longtime Sen. Robert Menendez, a Democrat, could continue to shift voters to the right.
While grassroots voter-registration movements such as that organized by activist Scott Presler could have a significant impact, backlash from concerned soccer moms in the Garden State’s suburbs can’t be discounted.
The new law permits restriction in the case of “developmentally inappropriate material” for certain age groups. The measure also requires local school boards and the governing bodies of public libraries to set up policies for book curation and the removal of library materials, including a way to address concerns over certain items.
It comes as a growing number of schools embrace controversial agendas including child-grooming via transgender or LGBT activism, and overtly racial messaging via critical race theory.
According to the American Library Association, which has ties to the Marxist movement in America, over 4,200 works in school and public libraries were deemed objectionable in 2023, a jump from the old record of nearly 2,600 books in 2022. Many challenged books 2023 had LGBT and racial themes.
Restrictions in some states have increased so much that librarians and administrators worry about lawsuits, hefty fines and even imprisonment if they provide books that others regard as inappropriate. Lawmakers in more than 15 states have introduced bills to impose harsh penalties on libraries or librarians in 2024.
Conservative parents and activists argue that the books are too sexually explicit or otherwise controversial, and are inappropriate, especially for younger readers. National groups such as Moms for Liberty say parents are entitled to more control over books available to their children.
Librarians hailed the New Jersey measure’s enactment. Karen Grant, president of the New Jersey Association of School Librarians, said the bill recognizes librarians’ professionalism and promotes libraries as a source of information.
“The bill will protect the intellectual freedom of students as well as acknowledge that school libraries are centers for voluntary inquiry, fostering students’ growth and development,” Grant claimed.
Martha Hickson, a retired librarian, spoke Monday alongside Murphy about how parents first suggested her book collections contained pedophilia and pornography during a school board meeting in 2021.
She watched the livestream in horror as they objected that the novel Lawn Boy and illustrated memoir Gender Queer were available to students and suggested she could be criminally liable.
She said shortly before receiving a pen Murphy used to sign the bill that it was time to celebrate after three years of harassment.
“I’m thrilled,” she said. “After more than three years of harassment, this legislation is a relief to readers and librarians.”
The measure is set to take effect in a year, but the state education commissioner and state librarian are authorized to begin taking steps to implement the law.
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press
