RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Comic Books Arkansas vs. Comics.

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A law aimed at protecting the children goes into effect tomorrow in Arkansas. Best-case scenario - some kids may not get their hands on a Penthouse. Worst case - every single comic book retailer in the state is brought up on charges by the close of business Thursday.

The legislation, Act 858, which served to amend Arkansas Code § 5-68-502, was signed into law by Arkansas Governor Huckabee on March 28th and makes it unlawful "to display material which is harmful to minors in such a way that minors, as a part of the invited general public, will be exposed to view such material . . . provided, however, that a person shall be deemed not to have displayed material harmful to minors if the . . . lower two-thirds (2/3) of the material is not exposed to view and segregated in a manner that physically prohibits access to the material by minors;" or to "allow to view . . . to a minor, with or without consideration, any material which is harmful to minors."

In simple(r) English, it's against the law to display more than the top 1/3 of material that is deemed to be "harmful to minors" even when the material cannot be accessed by the minors or to allow a minor to view, with or without consideration anything that is deemed to be harmful to minors. That is, even if you consider something not to be harmful to a minor - and have a real crisis of conscience over it before showing it to them, it can still alter be found that the material was in fact, harmful to a minor, and therefore you broke the law.

Yep - it's the old "harmful to minors" bugaboo. As with other statutes of this ilk passed, the Arkansas amendment's definition of what "harmful to minors" specifically means is woefully vague.

Another Arkansas law defines "harmful to minors" as such:

"that quality of any description or representation, in whatever form, of nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or sadomasochistic abuse, when the material or performance, taken as a whole, has the following characteristics:

(a)The average person eighteen (18) years of age or older applying contemporary community standards would find that the material or performance has a predominant tendency to appeal to a prurient interest in sex to minors;

(b)The average person eighteen (18) years of age or older applying contemporary community standards would find that the material or performance depicts or describes nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or sadomasochistic abuse in a manner that is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community with respect to what is suitable for minors; and

(c)The material or performance lacks serious literary, scientific, medical, artistic, or political value for minors."

Teenagers From Mars anyone?

The definitions are vague enough that, if one was so inclined, one could lump comic books from virtually any publisher in the Top 5, and many others into the category of being "harmful to minors." As such, comic shop owners would face charges.

While comics could be affected, they're not the only form of art that could fall under the wildly broad definition of being "harmful to minors." In an article in the Times Record of Fort Smith, AK, one of many state newspapers reporting on the new law, bookstore proprietor Mary Gay Shipley, said the new law would keep minors away from some of the greatest novels and most important works of nonfiction, including Of Mice and Men, Forever and Joy of Sex.

Ironically, although no one in Arkansas will likely make the argument, given the violence and occasional depravity in it (Old Testament), the Bible itself could be deemed to be harmful to minors. Of course, if the suit fails, and the law does go into effect, look for the ACLU or some other group to do precisely that (probably going after Wal-Mart for selling it, in order to get the big headlines) in order to forcefully make a point.

"I don't sell 'dirty books' and I resent being treated like I run an adult bookstore," Shipley said in a news release from the Arkansas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Under the new law, Shipley could be charged with a crime if a minor saw of purchased one of the above named books in her store, as could any other retailer of books or printed materials.

In an article in today's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, reporter Linda Satter spoke with state Rep. Shirley Borhauer, a 76-year-old grandmother and former schoolteacher, who, "readily acknowledged upon hearing the lawsuit's allegations that the law may have been written too broadly and end up having undesired effects.

"'It could open up a can of worms, there's no doubt about that,' she said with a sigh. 'But our intentions were pure.' Keven Anderson, a republican, sponsored the Amendment."

And of course, if the law is allowed on the books in Arkansas, well, state representatives talk to other state representatives, and if a law like this promises to get someone votes, expect different versions to start popping up across the country like zits on a teenager after an all-night chocolate binge.

As Rita Sklar, executive director of the Arkansas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, explained to Satter, to comply with the law, bookstores and libraries, or anyplace selling or renting books, videos or magazines, would have to pore over all the material they get before displaying it to make sure it can't be construed as being "harmful to minors."

Once store owners and libraries had found anything they felt could be deemed to be "harmful to minors," it would have to be segregated into it's own "Adults Only" section.

After that, all librarians and retailers could do is hope that their judgment matched the judgment of every single person who entered their establishment to look at their wares. The first person who didn't agree with the librarian or retailer's judgment could legitimately file a complaint. According to Sklar, given the stigma of an "Adults Only" section, as well as the ridiculousness of having to enter such a section to find Catcher in the Rye, it might be easier for libraries and retail bookstores (including comic shops) just to shut their doors to anyone under 18 years old.

After all, Dr. Wertham argued about the inherent sexuality of men and women dressed in spandex who hit one another.

Sklar: "We're not saying we oppose the idea of a 6-year-old being able to get his hands on a copy of Penthouse. It's you or I not being able to get our hands on a copy of Of Mice and Men."

While no one is predicting a wave of Gestapo-like bookstore closures throughout Arkansas tomorrow, Shipley, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, the American Booksellers Foundation For Free Expression Inc, the Arkansas Library Association; the Association Of American Publishers, Inc.; the Freedom To Read Foundation, Inc.; the ACLU of Arkansas and others have filed suit in Arkansas District Court claiming that the new law is unconstitutional.

The four count suit names Huckabee, Attorney General Mike Beebe and all of the state's district prosecuting attorneys as defendants. In the Relief claim of the suit, the named Plaintiffs ask for an immediate injunction to prevent the state from enforcing the law, in essence preventing any retailer from being prosecuted.

Executive Director of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, Charles Brownstein sees the possible new law as possibly having a fairly chilly effect on comics shops in the state. "This law poses a grave threat to the livelihood of comic book retailers for a couple of reasons," Brownstein told Newsarama. "One reason is that they are applying the obscenity law to minors, so we're inviting a situation where adult legislators and adult prosecutors, often times who have other agendas at work are determining what is obscene for minors, and legislating morality. That creates a danger because you're allowing a bigger wedge into the law.

"The more immediate threat that this law poses for comic stores is the vague definition of 'harmful to minors.' Along with what is in the complaint, there's a passage in Arkansas' Harmful to Minors law that makes it a crime to show, or allow minors to be shown sadomasochistic abuse. The problem with that is the language of the law in that particular area is that sadomasochistic abuse is any person in underwear, a mask, or a bizarre costume either beating or harming another person."

Right - see the problem? If the law goes into effect, PG and under autobiographical comics, and Archie are going to have a real bright future in Arkansas.

"Read broadly, the way that the new Arkansas law would work is that any comic book story with a fight scene or where someone is tied up for any reason could be deemed as being harmful to minors. This means that to be 100% compliant with the law, you're going to have to put your copies of Batman, Spider-Man, Wonder Woman, and any other costumed character behind a blinder rack where minors cannot reach it."

Not to be totally Chicken Little about it, but it could happen. An individual, either disgruntled by the material in the comics themselves, the store, the store owner, or with any kind of agenda could, again, if the law goes into effect, lodge a complaint with the local authorities about the shop allowing minors to see the material. Technically and by the letter of the law, an issue of Amazing Spider-Man should not be viewed by minors. It may sound ridiculous, but it is the law.

And hoping that the authorities will just overlook certain aspects of the law or choose to not enforce it altogether is about as fruitless as hoping that it never rains in the Amazon. Ever.

If the law goes into effect, someday, someone will find a comic shop. "The danger is real," Brownstein said. "Historically, what the Fund has learned is that comic stores are very easy targets for creating the test cases for the law.

"If that does happen, we're committed to helping the guy who gets stuck being the test case. If it goes into effect, make no mistake, there will be a test case, and comic shops are as vulnerable as bookstores, libraries and newsstands in this case, possibly even more vulnerable, because if they don't understand our content, and they don't understand that a fight scene in Spider-Man is just a fight scene in Spider-Man, then we might be dealing with problems.

"Yes, the language of the law is ridiculous in this instance, but for the law to be changed if it is passed, it has to go to trial. Going to trial involves lawyers, evidence, and a major disruption of everybody's life that's involved. We don't want to see that happen, and that's why we joined the coalition to prevent it from becoming law. But if it passes, it could be very dangerous. The Fund is committed to standing behind the retailer who, knock on wood won't be, but if he is called up on charges, we'll be there to help them."

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Originally posted by profh0011:
I'll just say this whole "harmful to minors" CRAP is beginning to bug me-- considering some of the near-murderously destructive "minors" I GREW UP WITH and see LIVING in my neighborhood every day. Maybe it's society we should be more concerned about trying to protect FROM those "minors".

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Originally posted by therealdeadshot:
Does Arkansas have oil?
If so, just bomb and invade it...

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