New Jersey
State Senate passes bill intended to halt book bans, protect librarians • New Jersey Monitor
A bill aimed at limiting book bans in public schools and libraries and protecting librarians from lawsuits is now on the governor’s desk.
Titled the “Freedom to Read Act,” the legislation would require the state’s education commissioner to develop policies on how library materials are selected and how challenges to books on library shelves should be evaluated. Local school boards and library boards would then adopt their own policies using this model.
“You and all New Jerseyans have the freedom to choose what you want to read, and parents have and will continue to have the freedom to choose what their children will read. But no one gets to decide that for you — not now, and not ever,” said bill sponsor Sen. Andrew Zwicker (D-Middlesex).
The Senate advanced the controversial bill with a vote of 24-15, with heavy opposition from Republicans. GOP lawmakers said they feared the law would allow children to access obscene materials and protect librarians who share obscene books with children.
“Putting our children at risk and potentially exposing them to material that they are not prepared for flies in the face of our protective duty,” said Sen. Joe Pennacchio (R-Morris). “Couching such material under the guise of the First Amendment is a very distortion of who we are and what we strive to be as Americans.”
The bill comes as the American Library Association says the number of books targeted for censorship has skyrocketed, many of them because they include LGBTQ or sexually explicit content. The number of unique titles targeted for removal from library shelves surged 65% from 2022 to 2023, the organization says. Parents in towns like Glen Ridge, Roxbury, and Bernards have lobbied to have certain books removed from libraries.
Meanwhile, librarians say they have faced harassment from parents demanding certain books be removed.
States across the country are weighing similar legislation. The governors of California and Maryland recently signed similar bills into law, while lawmakers in New York and Rhode Island are still voting on those measures.
Under the New Jersey bill, school and library boards would be barred from removing books because of the “origin, background, or views” of the material or those contributing to its creation.
The bill would also provide librarians and library staff with immunity from civil and criminal liability for “good faith actions.”
Sen. Mike Testa (R-Cumberland) said he interprets the immunity the bill would provide to librarians as an “intentional blanket exemption from New Jersey’s obscenity law or, for that matter, any other law intended to protect our children.”
Testa claimed there is already “obscene material” available in New Jersey schools, and he questioned why Democrats are pushing for an exemption if there isn’t sexually explicit content in schools.
“How exactly does a person distribute obscene materials to a child in good faith? I also think it’s incredibly telling that if some of these very same sexually explicit materials were shown to a child by a neighbor, that individual would be charged with a Megan’s Law offense, and rightfully so,” he said.
Sen. Jon Bramnick (R-Union), co-sponsor of the measure, said the bill would create new standards for libraries that don’t currently exist.
“Right now, in the wild, wild west, no board of education is setting the standard, and now we are saying it is time,” he said.
Bramnick also defended librarians, stressing that none of them intend to provide sexually explicit material. But if a questionable book does end up on library shelves, there must be consistent guidelines and policies to ensure “we have a standard in this society,” he added.
The bill passed the Assembly in June by a 52-20 vote.
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New Jersey
New Jersey governor’s race: Jack Ciattarelli votes early; Mikie Sherrill to campaign with Obama
NEW JERSEY (WABC) — Democrat Mikie Sherrill is preparing for a campaign blitz this weekend and Republican Jack Ciattarelli cast his vote in the New Jersey gubernatorial election on Friday.
The energy was high and so was the optimism for Ciattarelli who voted early in Bridgewater. He has shifted to a full court press of campaigning over the next four days until Election Day.
“We try to touch four counties every day, there’s eight stops today, we’ve got rallies all throughout the state, reminding people that we’re still in the midst of early voting,” Ciattarelli said. “Two more days after today and reminding people to don’t wait till Tuesday. Anything can happen.”
Turnout is high for early voting and mail-in ballots as nearly one million New Jerseyans have already voted.
“I am a strong law and order, yet compassion for our citizens. I think we could do both with Jack,” voter Claudia Levin Bateman said.
“New Jerseyans are fed up, paying high electrical bills, paying taxes, fees, tolls, everything keeps going up. Our government’s a mess. We need to sort of rally to come in and save New Jersey,” voter Phillipe Pedroso said.
This is the second most expensive gubernatorial race in the state’s history.
Sherrill’s campaign has edged out Ciattarelli in fundraising — $51 million to $47 million.
That is mirrored by campaign spending. Sherrill has spent $43 million and Ciattarelli has spent $39.7 million.
“I feel great, I only have ’21 to compare it to, I really thought I was going to win that race,” Ciattarelli said. “You know how close we came? This one feels very different. Energy up and down. The state is electric. The reception in the minority communities across states been overwhelming positive.”
Sherrill has also been on the campaign trail all week and former President Barack Obama will headline a rally for her Saturday in Newark.
“To me, centering a campaign and what you are hearing on the ground, cutting out the noise sometimes from what’s going on online or elsewhere, but really centering on the very people that you want to serve is incredibly important and I think incredibly successful,” Sherrill said.
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New Jersey
Addressing NJ Food Bank luncheon, Feeding America CEO stresses the need as SNAP cuts loom
More than 350 people came together in Whippany, New Jersey, on Thursday for the annual Women Fighting Hunger Luncheon to benefit the Community FoodBank of New Jersey (CFBNJ).
New Jersey’s largest anti-hunger organization, CFBNJ services 15 counties in helping more than 750,000 people with food insecurity.
NBC 4 New York Anchor Natalie Pasquarella moderated a discussion on how to tackle hunger with keynote speaker Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, the CEO of Feeding America and Elizabeth McCarthy, President and CEO of CFBNJ.
“I think sometimes people misunderstand SNAP and don’t know that 82% of households who are getting SNAP have a working adult in the household,” says McCarthy. “It’s just really hard with prices going up and wages staying flat for people to make it paycheck to paycheck. Almost half the people on SNAP are children.”
More than 350 people came together for the Women Fighting Hunger luncheon in Whippany. NBC New York’s Natalie Pasquarella moderated a discussion with local advocates and Feeding America’s CEO, who has called SNAP cuts a “crisis situation” for local families, adding that one in nine New Jersey residents are food insecure.
Babineaux-Fontenot, head of the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization, told NBC New York that this is a crisis situation and people can take action in their communities.
“The reality is that this could truly be cataclysmic for this whole state and the nation,” said Babineaux-Fontenot. “They should reach out to their members of Congress and tell them, this issue matters. It’s not something we should play around with. It’s not a bargaining chip. Let’s make sure that everyone in your community gets the food that they need.”
Prior to the luncheon, guests packed donation bags full of non-perishable items which will be distributed across New Jersey.
To learn more about CFBNJ, click here. To learn more about Feeding America, click here.
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