Booksellers Join Challenge to Oregon Censorship Law

On April 25, six Oregon booksellers joined ABFFE and a coalition of groups in filing a lawsuit in federal district court in Portland challenging a new Oregon law that unconstitutionally restricts the display and sale of books and magazines that are protected by the First Amendment. House Bill 2843 makes it a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail to allow a minor under 13 to view or purchase a “sexually explicit” work. “We do not doubt the good intentions of the Oregon legislature,” ABFFE President Chris Finan said. “But H.B. 2843 lacks the safeguards for booksellers that the U.S. Supreme Court has mandated in this kind of law.”

Finan said that booksellers are concerned that H.B. 2843 does not include a requirement that a book or magazine be judged as a whole in determining whether it is illegal; such a test may exempt works that contain only a few sexually explicit images or passages. In addition, there is no exemption for material that has serious literary artistic, political or scientific value for minors. Under H.B. 2843, a bookseller can be prosecuted for allowing a curious 12-year-old to examine a sex education book if it contains drawings depicting sexual conduct, even one that is written for minors.

H.B. 2843 is also a logistical nightmare. “For booksellers, the new law is vague and difficult to apply,” Michael Powell, owner of Powell’s Books in Portland and a plaintiff in the case, said. “It says a 13-year-old can legally buy these books, but it’s a crime to sell them to a 12-year-old. How do I card a 12-year-old?”

The other Oregon booksellers participating in the challenge are Annie Bloom’s Books, St. John’s Booksellers and 23rd Avenue Books, all located in Portland; Paulina Springs Books, which has stores in Sisters and Redmond, and Colette’s Good Food + Hungry Minds in North Bend.

The other plaintiffs are ABFFE, the Association of American Publishers, the Freedom to Read Foundation, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, Planned Parenthood of the Columbia/Willamette, Inc., Cascade AIDS Project, the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon and Candace Morgan.
 

ABFFE Seeks Friendly Criticism in Online Survey

Can we be frank?  ABFFE is seeking friendly but honest assessments of its strengths and weaknesses from the people it was created to serve–independent booksellers. It is distributing a quick and anonymous online survey that will make it easy for booksellers to offer advice that will help improve it.  All booksellers are encouraged to respond. “We need a little help from our friends,” ABFFE President Chris Finan said. “Please take 10 minutes to tell us what are we doing well–and what we need to do better. Your comments will help ensure that ABFFE continues to serve booksellers well.”

Created by Bernuth & Williamson, a management consulting firm, the survey will be used to update ABFFE’s strategic plan. Click here to access the survey.

The deadline for completing the survey is May 2.
 

ABFFE Leads Booksellers in Challenge to Unconstitutional Indiana Law

ABFFE announced last week that it will join other members of Media Coalition in filing a court challenge to a new Indiana law that requires mainstream bookstores and other retailers to register with the government if they sell “sexually explicit materials.” “Sexually explicit” is defined so broadly that the law could apply to bookstores that sell mainstream novels and other artistic works with sexual content, as well as educational books about sexuality and health.
 
H.B. 1042 was signed into law by Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels in late March and will go into effect in July. It requires booksellers to pay a $250 fee to register, and failure to do so is a misdemeanor. Local government officials and zoning boards will be notified of the booksellers’ registration. “It is unconstitutional to force booksellers to register based on the kinds of books they carry,” ABFFE President Chris Finan said. “In America, we don’t let government license bookstores.”

In addition to ABFFE, plaintiffs will include other members of Media Coalition, Indiana booksellers and the ACLU of Indiana. Media Coalition defends the rights of mainstream businesses that produce and distribute books, magazines, movies, videos, recordings and video games that are protected by the First Amendment. Its members include ABFFE, the Association of American Publishers, and the Freedom to Read Foundation.
 

ABFFE Fights Censorship Laws in Colorado and Arizona

Last week, ABFFE helped defeat a bill in the Arizona legislature that would have authorized crime victims to bring civil suits against producers and distributors of “dangerous” or “obscene” books, magazines, and other works that “caused” the crimes against them. House Bill 2660 was passed by the house, and the senate was expected to approve it. However, the bill was strongly opposed by ABFFE and other media groups and was defeated in the senate judiciary committee.
 
In March, ABFFE opposed a bill in the Colorado legislature that banned the sale to minors of “harmful” books, magazines, and other material. The Tattered Cover Book Store and the Mountains and Plains Independent Booksellers Association (MPIBA) testified against the bill. The bill died in committee last week.


Book Groups Urge Congress to Pass NSL Reform Act

On April 1, the American Booksellers Association joined the American Library Association (ALA), the Association of American Publishers (AAP), and PEN American Center in releasing an open letter to members of Congress, urging them to pass the National Security Letters Reform Act (S. 2088 and H.R. 3189). In a letter published in a Capitol Hill newspaper, Roll Call, the groups urged approval of this legislation which will restore the safeguards for reader privacy that were eliminated by the USA PATRIOT Act. The letter cited two recent reports by the Inspector General of the Justice Department that show that the FBI has violated the law thousands of times since Congress expanded its authority to issue National Security Letters (NSLs), which it can use to seize records from bookstores and libraries without court approval. “The NSL Reform Act gives the FBI the tools it needs to conduct urgent investigations without sacrificing our most basic constitutional principles,” the letter said. Click here to read the Campaign for Reader Privacy letter.

S. 2088 and H.R. 3189 restrict FBI searches to the records of those either suspected of or directly connected to terrorism or espionage. It also limits the time that booksellers and librarians are barred by a gag provision from revealing the receipt of an NSL, which is used to obtain Internet records, or a Section 215 order, which can be used to demand all other records.

S. 2088 was introduced by Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) and is co-sponsored by 11 Senators. H.R. 3189 was introduced by Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) and is co-sponsored by 28 Representatives. The House Judiciary Committee conducted hearings on the bill this week; click here to read more. The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold hearings on National Security Letters on April 23.

ABFFE Welcomes New Board Member

The ABFFE board of directors has elected Betsy Burton of The King’s English Bookshop, Salt Lake City, Utah, to fill the unexpired term of Jack Buckley of Ninth Street Book Shop, Wilmington, Delaware.  Buckley resigned because of an increase in his workload as a member of the Wilmington school board.

Burton has been a bookseller for over 30 years.  She is the co-owner and co-founder of The King’s English Bookshop, which opened in 1977. She has long been active in free speech fights and is currently a plaintiff in ABFFE’s challenge to a Utah law that censors the Internet.  Active on numerous boards in the book business and in her community, Burton co-founded and is board chair of Local First Utah, and is on the boards of two national organizations whose member-networks are composed of independent businesses—BALLE (Business Alliance for Local Living Economies) and AMIBA (American Independent Business Alliance).  She is the author of The King’s English: Adventures of an Independent Bookseller, which was published in 2005. 
 

Free Speech Groups Defend Challenged Books

The Kids’ Right to Read Project (KRRP) reported success in two of three cases this month. A collaboration between ABFFE and the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC), KRRP engages booksellers, librarians, teachers, and others in responding to book censorship incidents in schools and libraries. In the past year, it has confronted challenges and bans of more than 40 books in 22 states.

This month, the project opposed challenges to four books: Angels in America by Tony Kushner, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, The Land by Mildred D. Taylor, and The Starplace by Vicki Grove. A community member who objected to sexual, religious, and racial content in the play, Angels in America by Tony Kushner, demanded that it be removed from AP English classes at Deerfield High School in Deerfield, IL. In response, the school offered the play as an “opt-in” assignment. A local organization publicly attacked the play, calling it “pornography.” KRRP sent a letter opposing the challenges that was joined by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), the Association of American Publishers (AAP), the Dramatists Guild, and PEN American Center. The school board voted unanimously to uphold the principal’s decision to keep the play in the curriculum.

The Kite Runner was approved by a school-based media and technology committee at Freedom High School in Burke County, NC, following complaints from a community member who objects to sexual violence and graphic language in the book. The committee also recommended that a policy be created for future reading assignments involving books with “mature content,” requiring the school to send written notification to parents. KRRP mobilized a coalition of six free speech groups and sent a letter opposing the challenges. Click here to read the letter.

A school-based review committee at Turner Elementary School in New Tampa, FL, voted to move The Land by Mildred D. Taylor from the school library and to donate the book to a middle school. The book was reviewed following complaints by one parent who objected to racial language in the book. The parent has promised to file another challenge, also for racial language, to The Starplace by Vicki Grove. KRRP wrote a letter to the St. Petersburg Times and the Hillsborough School board opposing the challenges. Click here to read the letter.

ABFFE Seeks Bookstores for More Reporters' Talks

Show Your Support for Freadom!

ABFFE's popular, newly-redesigned “freadom” t-shirts, buttons, and bumper stickers are available during Banned Books Week and all year round.  To order online, visit the ABFFE store.

For further information, contact Rebecca Zeidel, (212) 587-4025, ext. 13; rebecca@abffe.com.