Wisconsin Law Hinders Lewd Library Case
by GrinningFool on Wednesday, April 18th, 2007 | No Comments
A law protecting library records’ confidentiality has hamstrung officials pursuing a man who reportedly masturbated among the books at the Neenah Public Library earlier this month. City Attorney James Godlewski said the library can’t turn a surveillance video of the man over to police without a court order.
“That is state law,” Godlewski said Monday. “The library is merely following what state law says.”
The Wisconsin attorney general’s office said in a Nov. 27 opinion that library surveillance videos fall under the state’s public library records confidentiality law. The law prevents libraries from releasing records that indicate a library user’s identity unless someone’s life or safety is at risk.