10/31/11: Court Hears Arguments on Internet Filtering

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:00 — 1.4MB)

A federal judge heard arguments last week on whether a central Missouri school district should be barred from using Internet filtering software that has prevented automatic access to some websites with information on gay, lesbian and transgender issues.

No immediate decision was made on whether to impose a preliminary injunction against the Camdenton School District at the request of attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union. The judge also was considering the school district’s assertion that an unnamed student and several organizations that operate websites had no legal standing to bring the lawsuit because they had not suffered any harm from the district’s policy.

The Camdenton school system is the first to be sued under a recent national campaign by the ACLU and Yale Law School.