ABFFE UPDATE

June 20, 2008 Previously in ABFFE Update Volume 10, Number 6

Oregon and Indiana Challenges Advance

There will be a hearing in federal court in Portland on Monday in the lawsuit filed in April by ABFFE, six Oregon booksellers, and a coalition of groups challenging an Oregon law that unconstitutionally restricts the display and sale of books and magazines that are protected by the First Amendment.  ABFFE also expects a decision by a federal judge in Indianapolis before the end of the month in its challenge to an unconstitutional Indiana law that is scheduled to go into effect July 1. 

Oregon 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.  The law 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.  Bookstore plaintiffs are Powell’s Books, Annie Bloom’s Books, St. John’s Booksellers, and 23^rd 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 Indiana law requires stores selling even a single “sexually explicit” book to register with the state and pay a $250 license fee.  The law is broad enough to apply to bookstores that sell mainstream novels and other artistic works with sexual content, as well as educational books about sexuality and sexual health.  Attorneys for the plaintiffs expect a decision on their motion for a preliminary injunction by the end of the month.  Bookseller plaintiffs are Big Hat Books of Indianapolis, Boxcar Books and Community Center of Bloomington, and Great Lakes Booksellers Association.

ABFFE Welcomes Michael Tucker to Board of Directors

In June, the ABFFE board of directors welcomed Michael Tucker of Books, Inc. in California as its new member.  Tucker is the new vice president of the American Booksellers Association (ABA) and therefore becomes vice president of ABFFE as well.  The ABA adopted this policy at the time of the creation of ABFFE to ensure that the ABA's leadership is knowledgeable and informed about ABFFE's work.  Tucker replaces Gayle Shanks of Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, Arizona, the new ABA president.

Tucker is president/CEO and co-owner of Books, Inc.  In addition to serving on the ABA board, he is also a member of the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association (NCIBA), the Southern California Independent Booksellers Association (SCIBA), and the San Francisco Locally Owned Merchants Alliance (SFLOMA).
 

ABFFE President Receives Eli M. Oboler Memorial Award

ABFFE President Chris Finan was selected as the winner of the prestigious Eli M. Oboler Memorial Award, presented by the Intellectual Freedom Round Table of the American Library Association (ALA) for his book, From the Palmer Raids to the PATRIOT Act: A History of the Fight for Free Speech in America (Beacon Press, 2007).

The award is named for the late Idaho University librarian Eli M. Oboler, who was known as a “champion of intellectual freedom who demanded the dismantling of all barriers to freedom of expression.”  The Intellectual Freedom Round Table presents the award every two years for the best published book about free speech.

The formal award presentation will take place at a special reception on Saturday, June 28, at the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim, California.
 

ABFFE Encourages Booksellers to Participate in FREADOM Gift Card Program

ABFFE is seeking bookstores to sell the 2008 version of its attractive FREADOM gift card.  “The FREADOM card has become one of the most popular ways for booksellers to support ABFFE and free speech,” ABFFE President Chris Finan said.  The FREADOM card was introduced in 2006.  Last year, 30 bookstores sold over 3,000 cards, raising nearly $12,000.

The FREADOM card is an easy way for booksellers to support free expression.  ABFFE provides the cards for free–covering the cost of the card, the matching presenter, and the 50 cents per card transaction fee–in return for a donation of 10 per cent of the gift card sale and any amounts later added to the card.  The American Booksellers Association (ABA) handles the accounting, tracking the sale of the cards, deducting the donation, and transferring the funds to ABFFE. (The FREADOM card is offered in conjunction with the ABA’s Gift Card program, and all other program fees apply.  Booksellers who wish to add their logo will pay for imprinting.  Shipping and handling fees also apply.) 

The card features the FREADOM logo and a wonderful Roger Roth illustration of the Statue of Liberty reading a book.  Click here to see the card and obtain an order form.

To order the FREADOM card, e-mail Jill Perlstein, jill@bookweb.org, or fax the order form to (914) 373-6685.
 

ABFFE Book of the Month for June is "Claim of Privilege"

The ABFFE Book of the Month for June is Claim of Privilege: A Mysterious Plane Crash, a Landmark Supreme Court Case, and the Rise of State Secrets by Barry Siegel (HarperCollins), 9780060777029.  Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Barry Siegel uncovers the mystery behind a 1948 plane crash and the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in U.S. v. Reynolds, which formally recognized the State Secrets Privilege.  The case involved three civilian engineers who joined an Air Force crew who boarded a B-29 plane to test secret navigational equipment they were developing for the government.  The plane crashed during testing in 1948, and all three engineers died.  In responding to the widows’ suit for damages, the government refused to release its accident reports and witness statements, falsely claiming they contained classified information.  In U.S. v. Reynolds, the Supreme Court upheld this claim and thereby set a legal precedent enabling federal agencies to refuse to turn over sensitive documents that they say might endanger national security.  Siegel reveals the dangerous consequences of government secrecy and how it threatens our civil liberties.

Click here to read an interview with the author. 

To read about recent ABFFE Book of the Month selections, click here.

Show Your Support for Freadom!

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