Law limiting ‘sexually explicit’ material rejected

A new state law restricting sellers of “sexually explicit” material that went into effect Tuesday was overturned by a federal judge the same day.\nThe law applied to any new retailer or any retailer who changed their location after June 30 that intended to sell any book, magazine, recording or video deemed “sexually explicit” to register with Indiana’s secretary of state, pay a $250 fee and provide a list of all items for sale. The law was ruled unconstitutional.\n“Clearly, a vast array of merchants and materials is implicated by the reach of this statute as written,” Judge Sarah Evans Barker said in a written opinion. “A romance novel sold at a drugstore, a magazine offering sex advice in a grocery store checkout line, an R-rated DVD sold by a video rental shop, a collection of old Playboy magazines sold by a widow at a garage sale – all incidents of unquestionably lawful, nonobscene, nonpornographic material being sold to adults – would appear to necessitate registration under the statute.” \nBoxcar Books and Community Center of Bloomington, along with Big Hat Books in Indianapolis and other plaintiffs, filed the suit in May. They claimed the law was unconstitutional because it infringed on the First Amendment rights of the retailers.\nHowever, the bill’s original intention was to protect Indiana residents. The bill was written by Indiana state Rep. Terry Goodin, D-Crothersville.\n“I wrote this bill in response to a situation in my district where a store gave residents the impression it would be selling books, movies and snacks. Instead, the store opened selling sexually graphic products,” Goodin said in a statement on his Web site. \nMany bookstore owners also feel the lack of specification of the law was its downfall.\n“It would have been devastating because of its vagueness,” said \nChristopher Finan, president of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression. “It would have certainly forced many booksellers to discontinue the sale of books and magazines and other materials that people have the constitutional right to purchase. It would have been a very dark day indeed.”\nTechnically, because the ruling came the same day the law was supposed to go into effect, it had actually been effective for about 15 hours before it was overturned, said Abbey Friedman, general coordinator of Boxcar Books.\n“I was a little bit nervous and e-mailed (our attorney) this morning when I got in,” Friedman said Tuesday. “He said let’s just wait it out a little more, and it worked.” \nThe defendants in the case have 30 days to appeal the ruling. Friedman said the defendants had attempted to negotiate with the plaintiffs during the case.\n“They were trying to bargain with us about three weeks ago to see if we would want to rewrite the law for them,” she said. “I think they felt pretty threatened at that point. I’m kind of under the impression that they’ll leave it alone.”\nFinan also hopes this is the end of the case for the booksellers.\n“Although we were never in any serious doubt about the statute, we’re certainly glad the judge agrees,” he said. “We’re pleased she’s made short work of this very bad law.\n“We hope that the state will acknowledge the judge’s opinion in great detail and decide not to appeal and make the best of a bad situation.”