Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris Reveals The Truth About The Books In The Teen Section Of Idaho Libraries
(Kootenai County, Idaho) — Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris made waves at a recent press conference where he revealed books in the Community Library Network that are available for “Young Adults” (Ages 12-17) that contain disgusting sexual materials that are harmful to minors.
One of the books Sheriff Norris showed off is called “Deal With It.”
The book Deal With It contains graphic descriptions of sexual activity, such as “To Swallow, or Not To Swallow” which is found on page 88.
Other pages from the book include images depicting how to put on a condom, and how to masturbate, among other things.
Idaho Code section 18-1513 the Idaho Legislature explicitly states:
It is hereby declared to be the policy of the legislature to restrain the distribution, promotion, or dissemination of obscene material, or of material harmful to minors, or the performance of obscene performances, or performances harmful to minors. It is found that such materials and performances are a contributing factor to crime, to juvenile crime, and also a basic factor in impairing the ethical and moral development of our youth.
Conservative activists have long contested that it would be illegal for an adult to give a child under 17 books like Deal With It! under Idaho Code section 18-1515 which states:
A person is guilty of disseminating material harmful to minors when:
1. He knowingly gives or makes available to a minor or promotes or possesses with intent to promote to minors, or he knowingly sells or loans to a minor for monetary consideration:
(a) Any picture, photograph, drawing, sculpture, motion picture film, or similar visual representation or image of a person or portion of the human body which depicts nudity, sexual conduct or sado-masochistic abuse and which is harmful to minors; or
(b) Any book, pamphlet, magazine, printed matter however reproduced, or sound recording which contains any matter enumerated in paragraph (a) hereof, or explicit and detailed verbal descriptions or narrative accounts of sexual excitement, sexual conduct or sado-masochistic abuse and which, taken as a whole, is harmful to minors
The Idaho Tribune has previously reported on the obscene materials that are in our local libraries extensively, and we even have a whole section of our website dedicated to it.
In May, the (now former) library trustees sued the local Republican party, the KCRCC, for defamation after sending a letter that says exactly what we said above. Namely that 1). it is illegal to give kids obscene materials 2). there are obscene materials in the under 18 section of the library 3). librarians cannot be held criminally liable for this, due to an exemption that was carved out 50 years ago for anatomy books.
Legislation was passed in both the House and the Senate this year to remove this legal carve-out, but our supposedly “conservative” governor, Brad Little, vetoed it.
