ABFFE Joins in Court Challenge of Indiana Censorship Bill

April 10, 2008

The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) is joining other members of Media Coalition in filing a court challenge to a new Indiana law that requires mainstream bookstores 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 sexual health. "In America, we don't let government license bookstores," said ABFFE President Chris Finan in a statement.

In late March, Indiana H.B. 1042 was signed into law by Gov. Mitch Daniels, despite the protests of ABFFE, the Great Lakes Booksellers Association, 15 independent booksellers, and others who sought to dissuade the governor from approving the legislation.

In addition to ABFFE, plaintiffs will include other members of Media Coalition, Indiana booksellers, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana. Members of Media Coalition include the Association of American Publishers and the Freedom to Read Foundation.

Earlier this week, ABFFE helped defeat a bill in the Arizona legislature that authorized crime victims to bring civil suits against producers and distributors of "dangerous" or "obscene" materials. (See related story.)

And, in February, ABFFE worked closely with Colorado booksellers, including Matt Miller, general manager of Denver's Tattered Cover Book Store, and Lisa Knudsen, executive director of the Mountains and Plains Independent Booksellers Association, who told the Colorado Senate Judiciary Committee that Senate Bill 125 would have a chilling effect on the sale of books and magazines that are protected by the First Amendment. The legislation was subsequently approved in committee, but was amended on the Senate floor and sent to a second committee where it died.

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