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Booksellers Fight Threat of Civil Suit
There is a disturbing new trend in censorship legislation. Bills have
been introduced in Utah and Louisiana this year that give private
citizens the right to sue booksellers and other retailers for committing
an "unfair" trade practice by selling "offensive" material to a minor.
The defendants in these lawsuits would have to hire a lawyer to defend
them and could be forced to pay thousands of dollars if they lost.
Last week, Tom Lowenburg of Octavia Books in New Orleans testified
against Senate Bill 152 during a hearing before the Louisiana House
Commerce Committee. S.B. 152 authorizes civil suits against booksellers
who have been accused of selling any book that depicts nudity to a
minor. The book does not have to meet the legal definitions of
"obscenity" or material "harmful to minors." It can even be a book that
is written for minors. In addition, the bill provides that the attorney
general must send a warning letter to the retailer whenever a complaint
is received alleging that such a sale has occurred. After five
complaints have been received, a private citizen or the attorney general
can sue.
S.B. 152 and other civil liability bills would have a chilling effect on
bookstores, making them a target of harassment by individuals and groups
that want to censor titles that they find offensive. The Louisiana bill
does not give the attorney general any discretion in issuing a warning
letter to the bookstore: if he receives a complaint, he must send the
letter. "This bill would make our job hell," Lowenburg
testified on June 18. "It makes individuals mini-police in enforcing
content."
Click here to
read more.
Booksellers
Buying Reading Glasses to Help ABFFE
Bookseller s
have responded strongly to 2020 Vision's offer to donate $1 for every
pair of reading glasses it sells to independent booksellers. Exhibiting
beside ABFFE during BookExpo America, representatives of the Sarasota,
Florida, company wrote 15 orders and received expressions of interest
from another 40 stores. 2020 Vision will donate $1,500 based on the
orders it has already taken.
ABFFE President, Chris Finan said, 'We were knocked out by the response.
People were crowded around the displays all weekend. It certainly helped
that people loved the glasses and the willingness of 2020 Vision to
exchange designs that don't sell as expected."
A flier about the 2020 Vision offer will be included in the July Red
Box. More information is available
here.
ABFFE Welcomes Becky and Dan to
Board of Directors
ABFFE welcomes
Becky
Anderson and Dan Cullen to the Board of Directors. Becky was elected
to a one-year term as ABFFE's vice president. She is part of the fifth
generation of Andersons at the helm of Anderson's Bookshops in
Naperville, Aurora, and Downers Grove, Illinois. Becky is also the new
vice president of the American Booksellers Association.
Dan, ABA's senior director of editorial content, has been reporting on
First Amendment issues since he joined ABA in 1986. Elected for a
three-year term, he replaces Oren Teicher, ABA's new chief executive.
Wisconsin
Library Board Reaffirms Opposition to Censorship
After months of controversy, the West Bend, Wisconsin, Library Board
has
voted unanimously to maintain the young adult section of the
library "without removing, relocating, labeling, or otherwise
restricting access" to books that have been targeted by a local
censorship group. Half of the library board was dismissed by the
Common Council for refusing to ban the books, which included titles
that mentioned homosexuality. The dismissed members are continuing to
serve while the mayor looks for replacements.
It appears, however, that the controversy will continue. Prior to the
June 2 vote, a representative of the Christian Civil Liberties Union
handed out copies of a legal complaint that elderly library patrons
are suffering mental and emotional damage because of these books are
in the library. Click
here
to view our letter.
In related news from the
Kids' Right to Read
Project, which is jointly sponsored by ABFFE and the National
Coalition Against Censorship, a school district in Vineland, NJ has
replaced a copy of a teen poetry anthology that was destroyed by a
middle school principal. The principal objected to the poem, "Diary of
an Abusive Stepfather" in Paint Me Like I Am (Harper). Click
here to read KRRP's letter to the principal.
There is more good news in Leesburg, Florida, where the library board
voted to retain Gossip Girl (Hachette) by Cecily von Ziegesar
and The Bermudez Triangle (Penguin) by Maureen Johnson after
the books were
challenged by two parents. KRRP's letter can be found
here.
The Campaign for Reader Privacy Launches New Effort to
Amend the Patriot Act
 On
April 7, free speech organizations launched the latest phase in their
five-year campaign to restore the reader privacy safeguards that were
stripped away by the USA Patriot Act. Under the Patriot Act, the FBI can
search any records it believes are "relevant" to a terrorism
investigation, including the records of people who are not suspected of
criminal conduct. Because the Patriot Act orders bar recipients from
revealing their existence, it is impossible to know how many have been
served on bookstores and libraries. However, in a memo to Congress, the
Campaign for Reader Privacy observed that there have been at least three
significant and disturbing attempts to obtain records from libraries
since 2003. Two involved National Security Letters, whose use was
expanded by the Patriot Act.
Click here to view
the memo.
Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to FCC
 In
a setback for free speech advocates, the U.S. Supreme Court declared on
April 28 that the FCC's ban on "fleeting expletives" on television and
radio was not "arbitrary and capricious." In a 5-4 decision, the Court
said that the FCC had not exceeded its authority when it cracked down on
the use of so-called "dirty words" following the outcry over Janet
Jackson's exposed breast during the 2004 Super Bowl. ABFFE joined an
amicus brief in the case.
Click here
to view the amicus brief.
However, the case could soon return to the Supreme Court. The Second
Circuit Court of Appeals has already indicated that the "fleeting
expletives" ban may violate the First Amendment. It will now formally
consider this issue. If the case does return to the Supreme Court, it
may prompt the justices to reconsider the 1978 case that authorized the
federal government to censor broadcast media. For a forecast of what
could happen next, click
here.
ABFFE Releases Free Speech Guide for Booksellers
ABFFE has released a training guide to be used with its video, Scenes
from a Bookstore: Free Speech Vignettes. The video addresses
common free speech issues that may arise in bookstores and demonstrates
"dos" and "don'ts" for booksellers and their staff through real-life
scenarios. Based on a script written by Matt Miller of the Tattered
Cover Book Store in Denver and Kerry Slattery of Skylight Books in Los
Angeles, Scenes from a Bookstore
was filmed at Skylight Books with members of the staff filling many of
the roles.
The training guide and a DVD of Scenes
from a Bookstore are available free of charge to members of ABFFE
and the American Booksellers Association. To order, contact Jamie
Chosak,
info[at]abffe.com,
(212) 587-4025, ext. 13. They are also
available online here.
The
ABFFE Book of the Month for May is Burn this Book
edited by Toni Morrison (Harper Collins), 978-0-06-177400-3.
To sign The Right to Read petition to stop censorship, click
here.
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Show Your Support for Freadom!
ABFFE's
popular “freadom” t-shirts, buttons, bookmarks, bumper
stickers, and more are available during Banned Books Week and all year round. To
order online, visit the ABFFE store.
For further information,
contact Jamie Chosak, (212) 587-4025, ext. 13;
jamie {at}
abffe.com.
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