Librarians who work in public school or government-run libraries could face a felony charge if they recommend a book or media that contains sexually explicit content to a minor — including anything that depicts "sexual conduct, sexual excitement or ultimate sexual acts" — under a proposed Arizona bill.
Republican Sen. David Farnsworth supports Senate Bill 1435.
"My wife and I absolutely forbid our children from reading those horrible Judy Blume books," he said. "And because we didn’t clean up our society back then, then we have to deal with absolutely horrific things today."
Democratic Sen. Lauren Kuby opposed the measure, saying the bill criminalizes librarians and educators with a threat of two and half years in jail.
The bill passed out of committee on Wednesday and now must pass a vote of the full Senate.
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The marijuana holiday 4/20 is on Monday. It falls about 10 weeks before the deadline to submit enough signatures so Arizona voters could decide in November whether to outlaw dispensaries. -
President Donald Trump showered praise on several Arizona candidates he’d already endorsed at a campaign event in Phoenix on Friday and gave shoutouts to several candidates for the first time. -
Arizona, which has a population of 7.6 million people, received $61 million through the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program in 2023 compared to $287 million for Michigan, population 10.1 million. -
The Arizona Senate passed a bill Thursday that would require the state’s major utilities to file a report every six months detailing new extra high load users, like data centers. -
A Florida congresswoman accused Arizona’s Ruben Gallego of misconduct, claiming without evidence that the U.S. senator was involved in an incident with former Congressman Eric Swalwell and a sex worker.
