COMMON QUESTIONS
FAQ
Our initial goal is a petition. Our long-term goal is to make sure honest politicians represent Campbell County, WY.

Why 5,000 signatures?
5,000 signatures is a strong message to anyone who currently, or aspires to, hold political office. It shows there are 5,000 people in our community who want local leaders to tell the truth and make fact-based decisions that are beneficial for the whole community. Recent elections have been won and lost by smaller margins. If you are concerned about the direction of our local government, you are not alone.
Is this about the library?
Isn't that over?
People for Honest Politics came together because of our heartbreak over the unlawful and unconstitutional firing of our public library director. Mrs. Lesley was fired unlawfully, and no one in a position of authority would stop this action. She was fired because she was trying to protect our right to free speech, which includes our right to access information. A majority of the Library Board and the County Commissioners did not feel the need to stop. They made an unlawful decision based on their religious beliefs and their opinions, with no regard for the Constitution or the slippery slope their actions create.
What about protecting minors from harmful information? What about protecting children?
The argument that the Library Board’s actions were necessary to protect children is, at best misinformation, at worst, it is a lie. It is based on a harmful, false stereotype that LGBTQ+ people are predators and pedophiles. This stereotype suggests that learning about the existence of LGBTQ+ people will lead children to be trafficked and sexually abused.
Most children are abused first by their own parents or a known/trusted adult. The Child Molestation Research & Prevention Institute notes that 90% of child molesters target children in their network of family and friends, and the majority are men married to women. (Source: Southern Poverty Law Center).
The Campbell County Public Library System offers 165,775 books in its collection. Outside groups like Mass Resistance use exaggeration and scare tactics to convince communities that libraries are “full” of materials that are harmful to children. This group found 29 books, or .017% of all the books in our library, offensive.
The Library Board does not like these books, and demanded Terri Lesley commit an unlawful act and remove them through “weeding.” Rather than upholding their oath to the community and the Constitution, they told a public employee to remove the books, or be fired.
It starts with books. It starts with a Board pushing their version of Christianity on our community. What comes next? What else can a county employee be fired for? What if they found something about your life objectionable? Who will defend you?
What does the Constitution have to do with this?
Many Americans may be confused about the 1st Amendment of the Constitution, the one that protects freedom of speech. The 1st Amendment says that the government cannot make laws that limit a person’s freedom to speak. The Constitution states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press . . .” That phrase extends to all government bodies, including our county commissioners and the advisory Library Board (through the 14th Amendment).
The freedom of speech also includes the freedom to access and consume information.
How does weeding out books violate the U.S. Constitution?
How does weeding out books violate the U.S. Constitution? Pornography is restricted, hate speech is restricted, why is removing books different?
“Censorship does not violate the Constitution unless the government does it.
For example, if the government tries to forbid certain types of protests solely based on the viewpoint of the protesters, that is an unconstitutional restriction on speech. The government cannot create laws or allow lawsuits that keep you from having particular books on your bookshelf, unless the substance of those books fits into a narrowly defined unprotected category of speech such as obscenity or libel. And even these unprotected categories are defined in precise ways that are still very protective of speech.” (Source: The Conversation, Erica Goldberg, Associate Professor of Law, University of Dayton).
“The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Island Trees School District v. Pico (1982) that books may not be removed from library shelves just because school officials find ideas in the books offensive,” says Professor Hudson, who is also the author of The Constitution Explained. “However, the ruling is quite narrow and technically only applies to the removal of books from library shelves.” In other words, the ruling did not address banning books in school curriculum. . . Writing for a three-justice plurality of the Court and not a majority, Justice William J. Brennan said, “We hold that local school boards may not remove books from school library shelves simply because they dislike the ideas contained in those books and seek by their removal to prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion.” (Source: New Jersey State Bar Association, “Does Banning Books Violate the First Amendment?”)