CONCORD, NH (N. H. Bulletin) – The New Hampshire House voted down a bill Thursday that would bar schools from carrying certain books that include sexual conduct, nudity, and other content – and require that they set up processes to help parents flag and request to remove them.

The chamber voted to indefinitely postpone it, 187-162, which prevents it from returning this year.

Conservatives said it was a needed bill to empower parents to remove harmful materials. But Democrats and other opponents said it would encourage censorship.

“The N.H. House of Representatives today voted against a bill that would have created a state-run book banning process, and we commend them for affirming that New Hampshire schools are places of learning, not censorship,” said Gilles Bissonnette, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire.

Sponsored by Rep. Glenn Cordelli, a Tuftonboro Republican, House Bill 1419 would prohibit materials in schools that are “harmful to minors” and define that to cover a range of categories.

According to the bill, the content would be deemed harmful if “it predominantly appeals to the prurient, shameful, or morbid interest of minors”; if it “depicts or describes nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or sadomasochistic abuse” in ways that are “patently offensive” to teach to minors; and if it “lacks serious literary, scientific, medical, artistic, or political value for minors.”

The bill requires school boards to adopt a complaint process around harmful materials. Under that process, parents or guardians would need to write a complaint to the school principal outlining the material and how they believe it is harmful; the principal would then investigate and make a determination. The parent could then appeal that determination to the State Board of Education, a body whose members are appointed by the governor. The state board could make a final ruling overriding the principal’s finding.

If an educator were to continue providing the materials even after they are removed, they would be violating the educator code of conduct and could be disciplined by the state board, the bill stated.

The bill would also allow the Attorney General’s Office, the state Department of Education, or any aggrieved person to initiate a civil action against the school district if the school doesn’t adhere to the complaint process or continues to provide the material even after the complaint process has resulted in it being banned.

Cordelli argued that the bill was necessary to help parents remove book titles in school physical or online libraries that contain unnecessary and inappropriate sexual descriptions.

“We need to focus on academic achievement and knowledge,” he said. “… Let’s be honest: These explicit sexual and age-inappropriate materials have no place in our schools. And I repeat: This is not about banning books; it is making sure that your children have access to educational, age-appropriate materials, period.”

On Thursday, Cordelli read some passages aloud from the House floor, prompting multiple rebukes from House Speaker Sherman Packard, who advised him not to read inappropriate words in the chamber.

“I’m asking you to keep it civil,” Packard said.

Democrats and school officials noted that state statute already criminalizes the distribution of harmful books and other content to minor, and argued that the bill would encourage libraries to self-censor.

“It contains vague and subjective language to determine what is ‘harmful to minors’ and expands criminal liability to K-12 educators,” said Rep. Peggy Balboni, a Rye Democrat, in a written argument against the bill. “This legislation is not needed and will intimidate educators from retaining certain items in their library collections.”

This story originally appeared in the N. H. Bulletin.  www.newhampshirebulletin.com