Are people who want books banned or reclassified library “users” whose identities are protected by Colorado law? The Colorado Court of Appeals said yes in an opinion issued last month, but now the editor of the Crested Butte News wants the state Supreme Court to review and reverse that ruling.
Colorado’s library-user privacy statute shields the identities of people who want public library books banned or reclassified, the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled, upholding a 2022 Gunnison County District Court decision.
Librarians in Colorado need guidance from the Colorado Court of Appeals on whether the state’s library-user privacy statute protects the identities of people who want books banned or reclassified, a lawyer for the Gunnison County Library District director told a panel of appellate judges.
The Gunnison County Library District has joined the Crested Butte News and the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition in asking the Colorado Court of Appeals to overturn a judge’s ruling that shields the identities of people who want library books banned or reclassified.
Like last year, court rulings dominate CFOIC’s 2022 list of transparency highs and lows, with perhaps the most closely watched decision coming nearly three weeks after a shooter killed five people and wounded more than a dozen others at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs on Nov. 19.
In Colorado Court of Appeals briefs, the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition and the editor of the Crested Butte News spell out reasons why a judge erred in ruling that a Colorado statute shields the identities of people who want certain books reclassified or removed altogether from library shelves.
The editor of the Crested Butte News is appealing a district court ruling that lets Gunnison County librarians withhold the names of people who want certain books reclassified or removed altogether from library shelves.
People who ask Gunnison County librarians to remove or reclassify books they find objectionable or controversial can remain anonymous, a judge decided.
