Kentucky Legislators to Introduce Bill to End Governor Fletcher’s Political Censorship

Summary | Press Release | Petition | Spread the Word 07/13/2006 Kentucky Legislators to Introduce Bill to End Governor Fletcher’s Political Censorship Rep. Kathy Stein’s Legislation Will Promote Responsible Internet Use, Protect Rights of State Employees Lexington, KY – Kentucky state representative Kathy Stein (D-Fayette) announced her intention to introduce a bill to deal with the problems created by Governor Ernie Fletcher’s politically motivated blocking of certain websites for state employees. She was joined today by State Treasurer Jonathan Miller and David Sirota, co-chair of the Progressive States Network, to outline her plan for responsible procedures to manage Internet use by state employees while respecting these workers and the First Amendment. “This common sense bill respects workers and taxpayers and it prevents politically motivated censorship,� said Rep Stein. “We need to make sure that we aren’t blocking sites because of their political viewpoints.� The legislation requested by Rep. Stein has garnered the support of the Progressive States Network. David Sirota, co-chair of the Network, spoke in favor of it at a press conference. “Politically motivated individuals should not be deciding who reads what in America. That seems like a policy better suited for China than for Kentucky,� said Sirota. The bill draft request being submitted by Rep. Stein would protect the right of state agencies to prohibit employees from using their work computers inappropriately but would have to do so in a viewpoint neutral way and follow fair procedures. Governor Fletcher’s actions recently landed Kentucky in a federal lawsuit brought by Mark Nicolas, a Kentucky blogger whose site has been highly critical of Fletcher and has since been blocked by the state. The Progressive States Network was founded in 2005 to drive public policy debates and change the political landscape in the United States by focusing on attainable and forward-looking state level actions. It recently changed its name from the Progressive Legislative Action Network (PLAN).