LINCOLN- Sen. Joni Albrecht's LB441, which would have allowed for the prosecution of K-12 teachers or librarians if they provide obscenity to minors, failed to advance on Wednesday. Albrecht argued that the bill would close a "loophole" that leaves these school staff immune from prosecution.

"Who in their right mind would argue that criminal obscenity should be presented to our school children at school?" asked Albrecht during debate. The current penalty for providing obscenity to minors is a Class I misdemeanor, which carries up to a $1,000 fine or a year in jail. Multiple senators, including those for and against the proposal, pointed out that it was already possible to prosecute teachers and librarians for such offenses.

After three days of lengthy and heated debate, the bill failed to reach cloture on a 30-17 vote, falling just three votes short. Several opponents of the bill argued that the definition of obscenity is too broad, and that the line between obscenity and art is often gray. "The things which I think folks are saying they do not want to have in the schools--that is not legally obscene," said Sen. Wendy DeBoer, "That's a very specific term of art."

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