North Dakota

Amendments brought to North Dakota book ban bills

Published

2 years ago

March 15, 2023

Amendments brought to North Dakota book ban bills

A North Dakota Senate panel on Tuesday superior a invoice to take away sexual materials from public libraries’ kids’s collections, as Home lawmakers took up an identical invoice.

The Senate Judiciary Committee gave a unanimous “do go” advice to Home Invoice 1205 by Home Majority Chief Mike Lefor, R-Dickinson. The invoice now goes to the Senate for a vote.

The Home had handed a broader model of the invoice in a 65-28 vote, however the Senate panel overhauled the invoice with amendments, making it particular to minors and public libraries’ kids’s collections.

Lefor’s invoice would outline “specific sexual materials” as “any materials which, taken as a complete, appeals to the prurient curiosity of minors; is patently offensive to prevailing requirements within the grownup neighborhood in North Dakota as a complete with respect to what’s appropriate materials for minors; and brought as a complete, lacks severe literary, inventive, political, or scientific worth for minors.”

The invoice would mandate public libraries to give you insurance policies and procedures earlier than subsequent 12 months for eradicating or relocating “specific sexual materials,” dealing with requests to take away or relocate books, growing age-appropriate e book collections, and periodically reviewing collections. Libraries additionally must submit a “compliance report” on their insurance policies to lawmakers.

Book displays, 'read-in' events at North Dakota public libraries decry book ban bills

North Dakota lawmakers advance book ban bills targeting sexual material

The invoice additionally makes clear it might apply to “any kids’s e book stock maintained by a public library.”

Supporters say the 2 payments would defend kids towards pornography. Opponents have decried the payments as censorship.

Amendments

The Home Judiciary Committee heard Senate Invoice 2360 by Sen. Keith Boehm, R-Mandan. The Senate final month handed the invoice 38-9.

Boehm introduced amendments to the invoice. Committee Chair Larry Klemin, R-Bismarck, instructed the Tribune he did not count on the panel to instantly act on the invoice Tuesday.

The Senate-passed invoice would criminalize with a misdemeanor cost the willful show of “specific sexual materials” at “newsstands or some other enterprise institution frequented by minors, or the place minors are or could also be invited as part of most of the people.” Such materials would come with photographs or written descriptions of assorted intercourse acts, nudity or partial nudity.

Amongst his proposed amendments is an addition of “public library or public faculty library” to “the place minors are or could also be invited as a part of most of the people.”

His amendments additionally would exempt from legal legal responsibility a “public library for restricted entry for instructional functions carried on at such an establishment by adults solely.”

The amendments additionally would remove “sex-based classifications” from the proposed record of “specific sexual materials,” which would come with written and visible depictions of assorted intercourse acts, nudity and partial nudity.

Boehm harassed that his invoice would imply for materials to be “taken as a complete.”

“All of us hear that we will ban the Bible or we’re not going to have the ability to have this on the market or that on the market,” he instructed the Home panel. “‘Taken as a complete’ implies that … if there’s one scene in there or one factor and it is sexually specific, it doesn’t imply that that e book will get to be taken out of the system.”

State Librarian Mary Soucie instructed Home finances writers final week that the State Library would wish 71 non permanent workers to evaluation its fiction assortment and 35 non permanent workers to evaluation ebooks, ought to Boehm’s invoice go.

Analysis

Boehm has touted a crew of “native North Dakotans” and “native mother and father” whose monthslong analysis uncovered “sexually specific content material” in 40 libraries statewide.

The Tribune requested Boehm for particulars of the analysis, which he mentioned was carried out partly by his daughter-in-law and her sister.

“Simply regular individuals. They don’t seem to be some nefarious group that everyone thinks they’re, or that they are funded by any individual,” Boehm instructed the Tribune.

He supplied the Tribune with the researchers’ record of books, which he mentioned they curated by citing the American Library Affiliation discovering the titles as probably the most challenged on account of “sexually specific graphics and/or language, profanity, violence, and depictions of kid abuse.”

“These books are extensively accessible in public libraries and faculties throughout ND,” the record states.

The record consists of 12 books referred to as the “High 10 Most Challenged Books of 2021 Accessible in North Dakota Libraries”:

“Garden Boy” by Jonathan Evison
“Past Magenta: Transgender Teenagers Communicate Out” by Susan Kuklin
“Me and Earl and the Dying Woman” by Jesse Andrews
“The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison
“Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe
“The Completely True Diary of a Half-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie
“This E book is Homosexual” by Juno Dawson
“All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George M. Johnson
“Out of Darkness” by Ashley Hope Perez
“The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas
“Let’s Speak About It: The Teen’s Information to Intercourse, Relationships, and Being a Human” by Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan
“Intercourse is a Humorous Phrase: A E book About Our bodies, Emotions, and YOU” by Cory Silverberg

The record additionally names libraries the place the books can be found.

“Let’s Speak About It” particularly has been the topic of North Dakota Republican lawmakers’ scorn. Lefor has referred to as it “225 pages of despicable filth.”

Challenges

“Let’s Speak About It” additionally has been the topic of over half the 48 requests for reconsideration submitted to eight North Dakota public libraries within the final 5 years, in accordance with State Librarian Mary Soucie. Her knowledge displays 60 of the 83 public libraries, as of mid-January.

The vast majority of public libraries have had zero requests for reconsideration since 2018, she mentioned.

The requests difficult “Let’s Speak About It” embody 14 on the Valley Metropolis Barnes County Public Library and eight on the Dickinson Space Public Library, in accordance with Soucie.

Public libraries in North Dakota as of 2021 collectively owned greater than 4.9 million objects.

Attain Jack Dura at 701-223-8482 or jack.dura@bismarcktribune.com.

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North Dakota

Deer mice in North Dakota

Published

3 hours ago

January 18, 2025

Press Room

What is the most abundant mammal in North America? I saw that question used in trivia recently. The answer was deer mouse. I am not so sure about that, in part because deer mouse is used to refer to a genus of mice as well one of the species of the genus. Either way, deer mice are certainly one of the contenders.

There are over a dozen species of small mammals that the casual observer may refer to as mice in North Dakota. That would include the house mouse, deer mice, voles, pocket mice, jumping mice, and shrews. The term deer mouse is used to refer to mice in the genus Peromyscus. Most are gray or reddish brown with a white underbelly, white feet, and comparatively large ears. And they are often characterized as having large “bulging” eyes. Robert Seabloom in his Mammals of North Dakota lists two species of Peromyscus in North Dakota.

What is commonly known as a deer mouse (P. maniculatus), a species of the grasslands, is common and abundant throughout the state. They are around 6 inches long, including a tail about 2.5 inches long. Although juveniles may be gray, adults are usually a brown to grayish-brown. Seabloom also notes that they have “distinctly” bicolored tails which helps in identification.

The deer mouse feeds largely on seeds and insects. Home range for these mice is around 2-3 acres. They are prey to several animals including snakes, hawks, owls, and fox. They are also a major carrier of the hantavirus.

The white-footed deer mouse (P. leucopus) is a species of wooded areas, and as such is less common. It is similar in appearance to the deer mouse but is perhaps a bit larger. Seabloom also notes that their “indistinctly bicolored tail” is a key characteristic in identification.

Like the deer mouse, the white-footed deer mouse feeds largely on seeds and insects. Acorns can also be an important food item. Their home range is less than that of a deer mouse, averaging around one acre

If you are interested in more information on the biology, ecology, and identification of these and other North Dakota mammals, I suggest you check out Mammals of North Dakota by UND professor emeritus Robert Seabloom. First published in 2011, it is now in its second edition.

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North Dakota

North Dakota House considers bills on AI in political ads, ‘deepfakes’ • North Dakota Monitor

Published

11 hours ago

January 17, 2025

Press Room

North Dakota House considers bills on AI in political ads, ‘deepfakes’ • North Dakota Monitor

Artificial intelligence used for political purposes would require a disclaimer under a bill proposed in the North Dakota Legislature.

The House Government and Veterans Affairs Committee held a hearing Friday on House Bill 1167 that would require a “prominent disclaimer” on any political communication or political advertisement created wholly or in part by artificial intelligence tools.

The disclaimer must read: “This content generated by artificial intelligence.”

Bill sponsor Rep. Jonathan Warrey, R-Casselton, said he expects AI use in political communications to become a much bigger issue in the future.

Rep. Jonathan Warrey, R-Casselton, speaks during a committee hearing on Jan. 17, 2025. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)

“There are other states taking action on this to provide some protections in place, and I think the overall theme is very sound,” Warrey said.

He added the bill was crafted through consultation with the Secretary of State’s Office and creates a new provision under the Corrupt Practices section of North Dakota Century Code, making any violation punishable by a Class A misdemeanor.

Deputy Secretary of State Sandy McMerty testified in support of the bill. She said AI can be used to help create graphics, write a newsletter and other communication.

However, if AI is used in political communication, she said the public should be informed. McMerty likened the new policy to statements politicians are already required to attach to their political ads that say who paid for the ad.

Terry Effertz, executive director of advocacy group TechND, testified against the bill, telling lawmakers the proposal is too broad.

“The bill, to be honest, is a reaction to hypothetical concerns, rather than a solution to documented harm,” Effertz said. “AI is evolving and hasty legislation in this area could inhibit legitimate uses while failing to address the actual risks.”

Terry Effertz, executive director of TechND, speaks during a committee hearing on Jan. 17, 2025. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)

Because AI has become widely embedded in digital content and software, it could lead to “disclosure overload,” she said.

“Really what we need to focus on is the fact that deepfakes are the real threat here,” Effertz said.

A separate proposal, House Bill 1320, would outlaw the fraudulent use of deepfake videos and images in North Dakota.

Deepfakes, or videos, images or recordings manipulated by generative AI, have caused concerns about spreading misinformation. The bill would make the creation, possession and release of deepfake videos and images, without the consent of the person featured, a Class A misdemeanor.

Rep. Josh Christy, R-Fargo, the prime sponsor of the bill, said deepfakes are a threat to North Dakotans because it’s become more difficult to determine what is real and what is fake.

He said the intent of his bill is to prevent someone from using someone else’s likeness without permission. The bill is not limited to deepfakes used for political purposes.

“If I’m able to take a video of you, upload it to a service, and then be able to represent you in a way that you don’t want, it’s not a good thing,” Christy said.

A public hearing on the bill is at 11 a.m. Monday in Room 327B at the Capitol. Christy said he plans to play a video of himself reading a portion of the Gettysburg Address in Russian, German and from a female avatar that he programmed though software.

He said he doesn’t want to cross any lines with satire or First Amendment concerns and hopes to get some feedback during the hearing.

“I don’t know where that line is,” he said. “Hopefully the Attorney General’s Office or others will come out for testimony on this and help clarify any amendments.”

The committee did not take immediate action on the bill related to disclosures of AI in political ads. Written testimony on the bill addressing deepfakes can be submitted online until 8 a.m. Monday.

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