Blatant CIPA Fraud in Pierce County Library in Policy and Practice Caught On Video

The Pierce County Library, Tacoma, WA, is blatantly defrauding the federal government of funds meant for libraries compliant with the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA).  It has essentially stolen $462,789.73 from the federal government.  I predict it will continue to steal until forced to stop as the fraud has been continuous for eight years so far.

It is committing this fraud in policy and practice.  The policy goes directly counter to the law, and the practice is evident from open pornography viewing.

The law, CIPA, was found constitutional in 2003.  US v. American Library Association, 539 U.S. 194 (2003) held, "public libraries' use of Internet filtering software does not violate their patrons' First Amendment rights...."  Simple, right?  Now look at Pierce County Library's "Internet Use Policy" that says essentially the exact opposite:

But the Pierce County Library System Board of Trustees considers that all materials selected or accessed by adults are protected under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution until such time as they are determined unprotected by judicial action.  Consequently, except as set forth in this Policy, the Library System does not monitor, filter or endorse materials on the Internet.

To obtain funding under CIPA, a library must filter the Internet a certain way.  One can plainly see the library refuses to filter the Internet at all, not in any way.  At least in policy.  Now let's look at practice.

In practice, open porn viewing, such as in the Steilacoom Library, Steilacoom, WA, which is part of the Pierce County Library, is clearly evident in the below video.  The library apparently has no Internet filtering, just like its policy stated.  If you do not want to see pornography, do not watch the following video of a man sitting right out in the open of a public library and watching porn as other library patrons go about their business, except for the guy filming this, and thanks to him we get to see the, um, action, and quite clearly:

Oh yes, the library later claims in its policy to be CIPA compliant:  "Consequently, the Pierce County Library System's computers that have access to the Internet will be filtered to the extent required by CIPA, but that persons 17 years of age or older will have the right to remove that filter for their use."  But CIPA requires the library or a librarian to remove the filter, not the patrons themselves.  So in yet another way, and again in writing, the library is evidencing that it is failing to be CIPA compliant.

As to the amount of CIPA fraud, that's $462,789.73.  Anyone can see this for themselves by searching open public records of CIPA funding for "Internet Access" (as opposed to "Telcomm") and aggregating the amounts obtained from 2004 to the present (2012).  Since CIPA was found constitutional by the US Supreme Court in 2003 and for related reasons, 2004 is the relevant date to begin finding fraud.  Search for Pierce County Library in the state of Washington here: http://www.usac.org/sl/tools/commitments-search/

I will be reporting this fraud here:  "Submit a Whistleblower Alert."  Among other things, I will be submitting the URL to this blog post as it contains or links to relevant evidence:

• http://safelibraries.blogspot.com/2012/11/BlatantCipaFraud.html 

To commit this fraud people had to sign a certification to the federal government that the library was entitled to the funds, and they had to have done so knowing the library does not filter but the law requires it to do so.  Those people have committed fraud, perhaps dereliction of duty, perhaps a violation fo the public trust, and should be fired immediately.  If I were part of the local media, I would file FOIA requests with the library and with the Federal Communications Commission responsible for CIPA to find out the names.  Just because a public library or librarian is involved does not mitigate the offense.

The local government is hereby put on notice of this fraud and the potential for resultant harm.  If the pornography viewing intended to be stopped by CIPA results in any crimes or misdemeanors against librarians or patrons, the government can and should be sued for failure to stop the library, a governmental entity, from acting outside the law.

Mind you, this is in the state where Dean Marney successfully won state and federal Internal filtering cases recently by pointing out the false "dogma" of the American Library Association, yet the Pierce County Library is aware of this but continues to mislead the public.

So the evidence for fraud comes from at least three sources:

1. The video shown above entitled, "OLD GUY WATCHES PORN IN PUBLIC LIBRARY," by Kevin Chacon, YouTube, 21 November 2012, and related communications on Twitter such as here, here, and here.
2. The library's Internet Use Policy containing language that is factually and legally false.
3. The publicly available records of $462,789.73 fraudulently obtained under the CIPA program.

The question is, will the library continue to commit this fraud?  Will the government require the library to comply with the law to minimize its own liability, let alone apply old fashioned honesty?  Will the media report accurately about this fraud?

The library's policy states:

Although the Library has adopted these policies, it disclaims any warranties on the effectiveness of any filter and disclaims any liabilities if the filter is inadvertently not implemented upon request.  The Library further assumes no responsibility for damages, direct or indirect, arising from any use of the Library's connections to the Internet.

Nice try.  The library cannot claim protection under the law relating to the Internet while it is violating the law relating to the Internet.

Any library crime victims and perpetrators, feel free to contact me for assistance in taking legal action against the library, the people who acted fraudulently, and the government that allowed the library to act outside the law, especially now that the library is on notice of this fraud.


NOTE ADDED 24 NOVEMBER 2012:

The library has been in contact with me and is being very forthcoming in offering to provide the CIPA certifications.  Hopefully more good news to come.


NOTE ADDED 27 NOVEMBER 2012:

I have today reported this library to the Whistleblower Alert line, 888-203-8100, option 9, during working hours.  (During non-working hours option 9 was not available, and the online means had a technical failure last I tried.)  The evidence I provided is fully contained in the above post and added note.  I confirmed the receptionist was able to see this post.

Past experience tells me I will never again hear from the FCC about this matter, nor will I ever learn what action, if any, has been taken, even if I were to ask.  I have reported about four libraries in the past, some cases of which are reported on this blog.  From what I can tell, the fraud in those libraries continues unabated.

I was asked if I was "just a concerned citizen."  I do not know how that is relevant or why it was qualified as "just" a "concerned citizen."  Perhaps my being "just a concerned citizen" has to do with why it appears my whistleblower alerts seem to have gone nowhere?

Be that as it may, I see that the investigation, at least of my own post on this matter, has already begun.  I am getting multiple visits to my blog from Irvington, NJ, including a search for "safe libraries blogspot," which I discussed with the receptionist, and links being followed, including to the original one containing the video by @kevinNYCdipped.  So I am satisfied at least someone is looking at the evidence.



NOTE ADDED 17 FEBRUARY 2013:

• "IMLS: Don't Award Fraud in Public Libraries," by Dan Kleinman, SafeLibraries, 17 February 2013.

Follow @SafeLibraries

Tacoma Library Crime Rampant; Library Director Once Chased Pedophile Out of the Library and Across a Parking Lot While Wearing Her High Heels; Library Itself Partly to Blame and May Be Committing Fraud

Crime is rampant in the Tacoma Public Library, Tacoma, WA.  See "Keeping Tacoma Libraries Safe a Challenge," by Rob Carson, The News Tribune, 18 February 2011.  But the library itself may be partly to blame and may be committing fraud.

Here is what is reported:

• a man exposing himself and masturbating in front of a 4-year-old at the Wheelock Library in the Proctor District
• issues with drugs, alcohol, personal hygiene and mental illness
• people having sex in the vestibule
• a woman selling drugs out of the bottom of a baby carriage
• [i]n the stacks, ... a patron slide his hand up [the library director's] bare leg
• chased a pedophile out a library door and across a parking lot while wearing her high heels
• stayed past closing time on innumerable occasions, waiting for parents to come and pick up their kids
• [l]ast year’s incident reports from the main library make a stack of paper 8 inches high
• daily routine of waking up sleepers, rousting abusive drunks, interrupting drug sales
• book thefts
• assaults
• patrons ... openly masturbating as they watch porn on computer monitors
• teenagers who gather after school, acting aggressively and scaring off other patrons
• Police were called to the library 16 times last year to deal with crimes that ranged from trespassing to assault
• A decade ago, the main library was the center of a thriving drug and prostitution marketplace on Tacoma Avenue.  Every few weeks, library maintenance workers had to pump the restroom plumbing to clear pipes clogged with hypodermic needles.
• Crowds of homeless people gathered in front of the library each morning, waiting for the doors to open.

Here is what is not reported: the crime may be partly the library's own fault, and the library itself may be acting in an illegal fashion.

I have no physical access to the Tacoma Public Library but from what the documentary evidence presents, it appears the library is defrauding the federal government and taxpayers nationally.  Here is the evidence:

1. the rampant crime as reported above,
2. the library's "Policy for Public Use of the Internet":  "This 'Condition of Use' statement will be shown on the screen when a user logs on to selected Internet services.  Acceptance of the conditions will be indicated when the user clicks the 'I agree' button,"
3. the library's "Board of Trustees Minutes; April 21, 2010":  "Director Odencrantz explained that one of the attributes of being in compliance with the Supreme Court’s ruling was for an adult to be able to disable the filter (it is required).  TPL did not have a way of doing this prior, however the library’s recently purchased Envisionware software allows on request for an adult person to disable the filter,"
4. the Children's Internet Protection Act [CIPA]:  "An authorized person may disable the blocking or filtering measure during any use by an adult to enable access for bona fide research or other lawful purposes,"
5. the case finding CIPA constitutional:  US v. American Library Association, 539 U.S. 194 (2003), and
6. the amount of funding received by the library under CIPA for "Internet Access", namely, $55,200 in 2010, $59,078.40 + $1,631.25 in 2009, $55,200 + $1,631.25 in 2008, $38,412.10 + 1,631.52 in 2007, $39,575.62 + 1,631.52 in 2006, $15,824.64 + $23,400.00 in 2005, and $14,200.00 + $8,160.60 in 2004, the first funding year following US v. ALA.  The total is $315,576.90.

Simply put, to obtain funding under CIPA, an adult must request an "authorized person" to disable Internet filters.  Adults may not unblock filters for themselves.  Yet library policy and library Board of Trustee minutes show that adults may unblock filters for themselves.  That violates CIPA.  Yet the library collected $315,576.90 under CIPA.  The money would not have been granted had it been made known that patrons may unfilter the filters for themselves, else why even have the law and the resultant litigation in the first place.

Adults unfiltering filters for themselves has helped foster the environment where "patrons [were] openly masturbating as they watch porn on computer monitors."  In other words, the library may have helped cause the very crimes of which it complains, and it may have done this as a result of its violating CIPA and defrauding the public of $315,576.90.

The Tacoma Public Library has joined other public libraries that have used CIPA to defraud the American public.

I will say one thing in favor of the library, however.  The library is the first I've seen to put into writing that privacy screens do not work:  "The Library also recognizes that ... the use of partitions and other devices to shield Internet terminals will only reduce the field of view while still allowing the open public display of sexually explicit images...."  The American Library Association tries to promote privacy screens as a substitute for Internet filters.  That is demonstrably false, but it is nice to see it written right into library policy.

Anyone care to comment below on my opinion above?

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