THEY’VE DONE IT AGAIN. This time liberals have backed themselves into the position of defending library patrons’ right to view pornography at federal expense. They’ve landed there by way of excoriating the Children’s Internet Protection Act, which the Supreme Court yesterday upheld 6-3. This law requires obscenity-blocking filters on computers in public libraries where the computers are paid for with federal grants or the Internet access is subsidized by Washington. Because the blocking technology is imperfect–it screens out some unobjectionable material, and lets in some that’s unsuitable for minors–the ACLU and the American Library Association call the filters “censorware,” and the three most liberal members of the Court deem the law unconstitutional on its face.

Justices Stevens, Souter, and Ginsburg are unmoved by the fact that the Children’s Internet Protection Act leaves librarians free to turn the filters off for any adult patron upon request. In addition, “libraries have the capacity to permanently unblock any erroneously blocked site,” writes Chief Justice Rehnquist for the Court. Not to mention the fact that any library that wants to can provide unfiltered access on its own dime.