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| 2 | 2 | | |
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| 3 | 3 | | LCO No. 885 1 of 2 |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | General Assembly Proposed Bill No. 523 |
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| 6 | 6 | | January Session, 2025 |
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| 7 | 7 | | LCO No. 885 |
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| 8 | 8 | | |
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| 9 | 9 | | |
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| 10 | 10 | | Referred to Committee on JUDICIARY |
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| 11 | 11 | | |
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| 12 | 12 | | |
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| 13 | 13 | | Introduced by: |
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| 14 | 14 | | SEN. DUFF, 25th Dist. |
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| 15 | 15 | | SEN. MAHER, 26th Dist. |
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| 16 | 16 | | |
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| 17 | 17 | | |
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| 18 | 18 | | |
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| 19 | 19 | | |
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| 20 | 20 | | AN ACT CONCERNING THE CURATION AND RETENTION OF |
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| 21 | 21 | | LITERARY MATERIALS CONTAINED IN PUBLIC AND SCHOOL |
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| 22 | 22 | | LIBRARIES AND LEGAL PROTECTIONS AFFORDED TO LIBRARIANS |
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| 23 | 23 | | AND STAFF WORKING IN SUCH LIBRARIES. |
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| 24 | 24 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General |
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| 25 | 25 | | Assembly convened: |
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| 26 | 26 | | |
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| 27 | 27 | | That the general statutes be amended to (1) prohibit public and school 1 |
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| 28 | 28 | | libraries from excluding or censoring books because of the origin, 2 |
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| 29 | 29 | | background or views of the material or of its authors, or solely because 3 |
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| 30 | 30 | | a person finds such books offensive; (2) require local school boards and 4 |
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| 31 | 31 | | the governing bodies of public libraries to set up policies for book 5 |
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| 32 | 32 | | curation and the removal of library materials, including a way to 6 |
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| 33 | 33 | | address concerns over certain items; (3) provide a librarian and other 7 |
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| 34 | 34 | | library staff member with immunity from criminal and civil liability 8 |
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| 35 | 35 | | arising from good faith actions performed pursuant to state law; and (4) 9 |
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| 36 | 36 | | provide a civil cause of action to a librarian and other library staff 10 |
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| 37 | 37 | | member for emotional distress, defamation, libel, slander, damage to 11 |
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| 38 | 38 | | reputation or any other relevant tort, against any person who harasses 12 |
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| 39 | 39 | | a librarian or library staff member from compliance with state law. 13 Proposed Bill No. 523 |
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| 40 | 40 | | |
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| 41 | 41 | | |
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| 42 | 42 | | LCO No. 885 2 of 2 |
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| 43 | 43 | | |
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| 44 | 44 | | Statement of Purpose: |
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| 45 | 45 | | To protect state residents by prohibiting public and school libraries from |
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| 46 | 46 | | censoring books and providing librarians and other library staff |
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| 47 | 47 | | members with legal protections, including immunity from criminal and |
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| 48 | 48 | | civil liability, for carrying out work-related duties in accordance with |
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| 49 | 49 | | state law. |
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