The high cost of losing in the court room
The high cost of losing in the court room
Keywords: Public Libraries, Censorship, USA
The landmark case overturning blanket Internet filtering by Loudoun County Library, Leesburg,Virginia, may wind up costing the library board $488,000. The plaintiffs, a citizens' group called Mainstream Loudoun, after the judge ruled in their favor,requested legal fees and expenses of $300,000. The American Civil Liberties Union, which jointed the suit, filing on behalf of Web site providers blocked by the filter used by the library, has requested $188,000. On February 8 the library board filed a motion opposing payment because it would have such a severe impact on the library's $4 million budget. The president of Mainstream Loudoun said it was unfortunate, but "the people who originally started this policy went into this knowing they would lose... they knew the cost could be as much as $500,000 and they went ahead with it."
