Marathon County Anti-Abortion Group Plans to File Lawsuit

Anti-abortion group plans lawsuit against county's library director. (Wausau Daily Herald, 3/30/2011)

Excerpt:      A local anti-abortion group plans to file a lawsuit against Marathon County’s library director after he canceled the showing of a controversial film.

An attorney for the group said the county’s offer of an alternate facility for the event was unacceptable.

Members of the organization, 40 Days for Life, accused library director Ralph Illick of censorship yesterday. Illick canceled a showing of “Blood Money” scheduled for Sunday, and said he was concerned protesters would affect normal operations of the library.

In a responding letter, released to the Daily Herald this afternoon, county officials offered the group a meeting room at a county building across the street from the library.

The county’s corporation counsel Scott Corbett wrote that the library was a “limited public forum,” where a government agency is not required to allow persons to engage in every type of speech, according to a 2001 U.S. Supreme Court decision.

“In this particular case, the Marathon County Public Library has set limits on the use of the meeting rooms,” Corbett wrote. “As indicated...in the event that the showing of the movie would provoke a civil disturbance, the purpose served by the forum would be thwarted.”

Related article:
"Blood Money", library meeting room use, and charges of censorship.  (3/29/2011)