ANNAPOLIS, MD — The Maryland Senate rejected a proposal that would have withheld public funds from state universities that allow students to view pornography on campus.State Sen. Andrew P. Harris [R-Baltimore and Harford counties] attempted to amend the $1.1 billion capital budget to include a provision requiring state universities to draft and enact by July 1st rules governing when and how porn may be shown on campus. The measure was a reaction to last week’s flap over plans to screen Digital Playground’s Pirates II: Stagnetti’s Revenge on the University of Maryland campuses in College Park and Baltimore County.
Even several members’ of Harris’ own party concurred when Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller [D-Calvert and Prince George’s Counties] ruled the amendment out of order.
When the issue surfaced last week, Harris swore Maryland taxpayers would be outraged to find the state’s revenue used to corrupt the morals of youth at publicly funded institutions. However, during discussion of the proposed budgetary amendment, several legislators indicated constituents voiced even more outrage over the Senate “wasting its time” debating the value of pornography and threatening educational integrity.
Republican Sen. E.J. Pipkin said his constituents inquired whether senators had nothing better to do.
“I think we do,” he told The Baltimore Sun. “There is a time and a place for everything.”
Language requiring campus porn policies remains in the state’s operating budget, which will be considered this week. If the measure isn’t stripped, Maryland universities will be required to craft by September rules governing the conditions under which pornography may be displayed or screened in public facilities. The operating budget clause imposes no financial penalties for failure to comply, however.
