Oregon Booksellers to Challenge Censorship Law

April 24, 2008

On Friday, April 25, six Oregon booksellers will join the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) and a coalition of groups in filing a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a new Oregon law that restricts the display and sale of books and magazines, which are protected by the First Amendment. Oregon House Bill 2843 makes it a misdemeanor to allow a minor under 13 to view or purchase a "sexually explicit" work.

Booksellers participating in the suit, which is being filed in federal district court in Portland, are Annie Bloom's Books, Powell's Books, St. John's Booksellers, and 23rd 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.

"We do not doubt the good intentions of the Oregon legislature," said ABFFE President Chris Finan in a statement. "But H.B. 2843 lacks the safeguards for booksellers that the U.S. Supreme Court has mandated in this kind of law."

Booksellers are concerned that H.B. 2843 does not include a requirement that a book or magazine be judged as a whole in determining whether it is illegal, said Finan, who noted that such a test could exempt works that contain only a few sexually explicit images or passages. Additionally, the law does not include an exemption for material that has serious literary artistic, political, or scientific value for minors. Under H.B. 2843, a bookseller can be prosecuted for allowing a curious 12-year-old to examine a sex education book if it contains drawings depicting sexual conduct, even one that is written for minors.

Describing the law "vague and difficult to apply," Michael Powell, owner of Powell's Books, added, "It says a 13-year-old can legally buy these books, but it's a crime to sell them to a 12-year-old. How do I card a 12-year-old?"

A violation of the law is punishable by up to one year in jail or a fine of up to $6,250 or both.

Other plaintiffs in the case include the Association of American Publishers, the Freedom to Read Foundation, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, Planned Parenthood of the Columbia/Williamette, Inc., Cascade AIDS Project, the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon, and Candace Morgan.

Topics: Free Expression,