Tattered Cover
Case Moves Toward Trial; ABFFE Files Amicus Brief Denver bookseller Joyce Meskis, the owner
of the Tattered Cover Book Store, returns to court next month in her campaign to quash a
search warrant that seeks records of book purchases by one of her customers. In April,
five policemen showed up at the Tattered Cover's business office and announced that they
intended to execute the warrant, which seeks to identify books purchased by a customer
suspected of illegally manufacturing methamphetamine. Meskis and her attorney persuaded
the police to delay their search and obtained a temporary restraining order preventing the
execution of the warrant while constitutional issues involved in the case are resolved. On
July 26, there will be a hearing on Tattered Cover's request for a preliminary injunction.
ABFFE is assisting the Tattered
Cover. It has been helping Meskis pay her legal bills and Friday joined 14 other groups in
filing an amicus brief on the Tattered Cover's behalf. The other groups include the
American Library Association, the Association of American Publishers, the Mountains and
Plains Booksellers Association, the National Association of College Stores, the American
Society of Journalists and Authors, PEN American Center, the National Coalition Against
Censorship and the Thomas Jefferson Center for Freedom of Expression.
Another Court Finds
Internet Censorshop Law Unconstitutional
On Thursday, the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the Third Circuit upheld a challenge to the latest federal Internet censorship
law, the Child Online Protection Act. Congress passed COPA in 1998 after the U.S. Supreme
Court had struck down the previous law, the Communications Decency Act. Defenders of the
law said that it stood a good chance of being upheld because it targeted material
that was "harmful to minors," which is more narrowly defined than the
"indecent" matter that was the subject of the CDA. Most states ban the sale to
minors of material that is obscene or "harmful to minors." But ABFFE, Powell's
Books and A Different Light Bookstores joined an ACLU challenge to the law in the belief
that it violates the First Amendment rights of both adults and children.
The three judges who heard the
case in the Third Circuit agreed, declaring that the current definition of "harmful
to minors" cannot be applied to cyberspace without censoring a wide variety of
constitutionally protected material. In the "bricks and mortar" world, when
someone is accused of selling a minor a work that is harmful to minors, a jury decides
whether the material is harmful by applying "contemporary community standards."
However, in cyberspace, content may be viewed by people in many communities
simultaneously. The only way providers can protect themselves from running afoul of
community standards is to eliminate any material that might be viewed as harmful in the
most conservative community in the country. As a result, both adults and minors living in
more liberal communities would be deprived of material that would not be judged harmful in
their areas. The repercussions of the Third Circuit decision are potentially far reaching.
If community standards cannot be used to regulate material that is harmful to minors in
cyberspace, neither can they be used to judge obscenity there. Thus, the decision may
actually set the stage for a debate over whether any regulation of speech on the Internet
is possible.
Muggles for Harry
Potter Grows Rapidly As July 8 Approaches
Muggles for Harry Potter, the
anti-censorship group launched in March, has been one of the beneficiaries of the Potter
mania that is sweeping many places in the world as the July 8 release date for the new
Harry Potter books approaches. The press is showing renewed interest in efforts to censor
the Potter books as it searches for a new angle on the story. A CNN film crew is visiting
Zeeland, Michigan, this week to prepare a story on the fight against the Potter banning in
the local schools. It was during this fight, which led to the rescinding of most of the
restrictions, that local opponents of the banning began to identify themselves as Muggles
for Harry Potter. ABFFE and eight other national groups that had been active in the
Zeeland fight then launched Muggles for Harry Potter as a national group.
Membership in Muggles for Harry
Potter is now over 5,400, and it is adding new members at a rapid pace. ABFFE has sold
more than 60,000 Muggles for Harry Potter buttons to booksellers around the country. The
buttons are still available through our Web site. Proceeds will be used to support the
Muggles for Harry Potter Web site, www.mugglesforharrypotter.org.
ABFFE Adds New
Staff Member
In part to help meet the increase
in administrative work created by the success of Muggles for Harry Potter, ABFFE has hired
a new staff member. Sarah Muhlberg, the new administrative assistant, can be contacted by
e-mail, sarah@abffe.com, or by telephone, (212)
587-4025.
