COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Ohio lawmakers are advancing a new bill that would charge teachers and librarians with felonies for handing out books and materials deemed “obscene.”
House Bill 556 has been introduced to establish “criminal liability for certain teachers and librarians for the offense of pandering obscenity,” the legislation states. Introduced by Rep. Adam Mathews (R-Lebanon), the proposal would charge teachers and school district librarians with fifth-degree felonies for creating, reproducing, publishing, promoting or advertising “obscene material.”
While the bill’s current version does not outline what materials would be considered obscene, Mathews said the legislation does not need to include what constituents as obscenity because state law already defines the term.
“We already have a definition of obscenity that our judges, our prosecutors and our lawyers know how to use,” Mathews said. “Ohio Revised Code Section 2907.01 goes into what obscenity is, and it is much higher than just spicy materials.”
However, Ohio Education Association President Scott DiMauro said the organization is “appalled” by the bill’s “attempts to silence or punish educators for doing their jobs.” DiMauro argues teachers will choose to abandon their careers rather than face the potential of criminal prosecution under a law “with a fuzzy definition of what would constitute a crime.”
“This deliberately vague law — which flies in the face of the First Amendment while inviting inconsistent enforcement — does nothing to serve students,” DiMauro said. “H.B. 556 would have a chilling effect in our classrooms by making trained, experienced professionals unsure whether the necessary, legitimate education materials they have been using with their students would be safe under this dangerous law.”
Mathews stressed the point of the legislation is to continue challenging students but “without obscenity.” The representative pointed to other classic authors and books that would still be permitted, such as Shakespeare, “The Scarlet Letter” and “1984.” Teachers “don’t need to have the dominant focus of those materials being ‘prurient interests’ — that is a high bar to become deemed obscenity,” Mathews said.
Still, Gov. Mike DeWine told NBC4 he is unsure whether this is a need for H.B. 556, and expressed support for a parent’s right to decide what materials their child can have access to. The governor noted these issues are typically disputed at a local level.
“Whenever anybody’s talking about passing legislation that bans books, this is dealt with usually at the local community without a law,” DeWine said. “If they have a book that’s objectionable by their child, we believe in parental rights.”
Melissa Cropper, president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers, echoed DeWine and questioned whether there is a need for this new bill, or if existing laws can address the concerns behind H.B. 556.
“We have not yet taken a position on H.B. 556, but we are concerned with the vagueness of the bill and the ability for it to be weaponized by bad faith actors who are focused on attacking public schools and libraries, not on protecting children,” Cropper said. “We plan to discuss this bill and these concerns with legislators and with our members.”
The bill’s introduction comes as another proposal limiting content distributed to students has been moving through the Statehouse. Named the “Parents’ Bill of Rights,” House Bill 8 passed the Ohio House last June to allow parents to opt their children out of “sexuality content,” defined as “any oral or written instruction, presentation, image or description of sexual concepts or gender ideology.” Despite H.B. 8’s advances, Mathews said his new bill is still necessary.
“H.B. 8 is a fantastic bill, and I hope the Senate takes it up and passes it quickly,” Mathews said. “H.B. 556 is more targeted just to the obscenity, looking at that space, and distinct from instruction. H.B. 556 would also be making sure that obscenity is not existing in the passive bookshelves of the library.”
Opponents against H.B. 8 have expressed worries the measure could be weaponized to target books with LGBTQ+ themes and characters, a concern that is now extending to H.B. 556. Michelle Francis, executive director of the Ohio Library Council, said the organization has reached out to Mathews with concerns.
“Our libraries are ‘open to all’ so we have materials and programs for everyone to ensure they have access to information,” Francis said. “Parents and guardians play an important role in what their children are reading, but they do not have the right to make that decision for other people’s children by dictating what others are allowed to read.”
Mathews said graphic depictions need to be age-appropriate, regardless of the identities of the characters or individuals depicted. The lawmaker said, “Obscenity doesn’t have any place with first graders, second graders — it doesn’t matter who the subjects of the obscene materials are.”
H.B. 556 will receive multiple hearings in the Ohio House Criminal Justice Committee, Mathews said. The lawmaker hopes the committee approves the proposal by July 4, then sends the bill to the House floor.
