UPDATE: House Bill 1113 failed in the House State Affairs Committee on Jan. 24.
House Bill 1113 would prohibit the use of state resources for the provision of lewd or lascivious content.
The ACLU of South Dakota opposes House Bill 1113.
This bill is a heavy-handed swipe at free speech and expression. Wherever there is an effort to restrict South Dakotans’ free speech and expression based on the content of that expression, the government has to have a compelling interest in that effort and must write such laws in the least speech-restrictive way possible.
This bill does not do that.
It’s impossible to define lewd and lascivious in a way that isn’t hopelessly vague and subjective, and government officials cannot impose their personal moral values on others.
