Indecency By Jayne Lyn Stahl

[Demeter]

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_jayne_ly_080329_indecency.htm


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March 29, 2008



While the Supreme Court gets to ponder whether or not to allow the D.C. handgun ban to stand, think about this: you're not legally required to register your rifle, shotgun, or handgun in the state of Indiana, but if you own a bookstore in that state, you're now required to register books that contain "sexually explicit materials," according to a new law.

On March 13th, a measure was passed by Indiana's legislature which makes it a misdemeanor for failure by a bookseller to register a title which is considered deleterious to minors. Under this law, a bookseller must not only pay a usurious $250 registration fee, but also provide a detailed description of the work which may include not only novels, but school texts dealing with health, and sexuality issues. And, if allowed to remain on the books, one may even expect history , and science, books, too, to eventually come under governmental inspection.

Indiana's new law seems like the logical extension of a wider national trend, since 9/11, in which the Federal Bureau of Investigation hands out National Security Letters to bookstores demanding that they hand over personal data, and records of their customers without first obtaining their consent. This insidious practice now appears to have "moral" implications, and encourages book sellers to self-censor, i.e. to avoid the registration fee and hassle by simply not carrying any "suggestive" works.

Notably, this is first law of its kind on the books anywhere in America, thus setting a dangerous precedent for freedom of expression, and one that should be of concern not merely to fans of the First Amendment, civil liberties groups, or constitutional lawyers, but to anyone who wants the government to stay out of our bedrooms, and our classrooms, too. This kind of prohibilition, and legal restriction, can only carry over to the media, to films, DVDs, and recordings.

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This measure must be stopped, dead in its tracks, before it spreads like a computer virus to the rest of the country, and the first amendment is forever compromised.




Authors Website: http://ladyjaynestahl.blogspot.com

Authors Bio: Widely published, poet, playwright, essayist, and screenwriter; member of PEN American Center, and PEN USA.

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