Local bookseller Randy Smith reports that Governor Mitch Daniels and the Indiana legislature recently passed into law H.B. 1042, a statute making it mandatory, under threat of arrest for a Class B misdemeanor and imprisonment for up to 180 days, for any person or business selling “sexually explicit materials, products, or services” to provide a complete list of such products and pay a $250 dollar registration fee to the Secretary of State who will then forward the information to local government officials.
As Randy explains:
Well, you might say, what's so wrong with that?
Let's just for a moment take a look at a few of the books that would qualify as "sexually explicit."
Hoosier Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy would top the list. The Holy Bible certainly contains sexually explicit material. Our Bodies, Ourselves is clearly sexually explicit as are any number of parenting guides that help people teach their children about their bodies.
NA Books Daily: Daniels, Legislature Besiege Booksellers...and Freedom
Email if you're interested in placing a group order for "You can have my book when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers" bumper stickers. A portion of the proceeds might go toward Randy's bail.
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12 comments:
That sucks!! (oops)
'm eager to hear what our ROCK contingent has to say about this.
Perhaps a portion of the proceeds can go to economic development via 1SI.
My apologies up front for going thru my "history" rant yet again, but did we not go thru this censorship/book burning scenario somewhere around the middle of the last century with disasterous results globally??
Must we relive the Hitler era?
Is this our current version of prohibition??
Way to go MITCH!
Fourteen Defining Characteristics Of Fascism
By Dr. Lawrence Britt
Source Free Inquiry.co
5-28-3
Dr. Lawrence Britt has examined the fascist regimes of Hitler, Mussolini, Franco, Suharto and several Latin American regimes. Britt found 14 defining characteristics common to each:
1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism
2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights
3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause
4. Supremacy of the Military
5. Rampant Sexism
6. Controlled Mass Media
7. Obsession with National Security
8. Religion and Government are Intertwined
9. Corporate Power is Protected .
10. Labor Power is Suppressed
11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts
12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment
13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption
14. Fraudulent Elections
Oops!
I guess that would apply to the stores selling the "crazy straws" that I read about on Healthblogger's blog.
This is something for concern on so many levels.
First, the term 'sexually explicit' is incredibly subjective. One would think that the adult place on Main Street would have sexually explicit material as they sell pornography. Destinations Booksellers might have books with sex in them, even explicit sex, but that is not the main part of the book. Or, presuming the book is mostly about sexuality and comes from a more scientific or religious approach, does this apply. Or does a passing reference count? Or does a dalliance of Serge count in this? (If you don't know who Serge is, shame on you, you needed to support Randy on his amazing accomplishment!)
Secondly, what is the purpose? It strikes me that this is going to move down the road of censorship. I am not an advocate for pornography but I am an advocate for free speech. I'd rather have to live with offensive material in my community than a muzzle. This has the ability, interestingly enough, to silence churches. What frightens me in the culture now is that there is more and more of a promotion, government wise, of churches that agree with them and admonishments of churches that do not.
Again, I'm not an advocate for pornography and I'd love it to go away. But I'd love it to go away because people aren't purchasing it rather than because it is banned.
Why does it appear to me with every little law being passed in the "interest" of the public well-being we are moving closer and closer to Totalitarianism?
Chris, Chris ... it's not fascist if "we" do it, remember?
Seems to be smart election-year politics, even if you think it's ridiculous from a real-world standpoint.
It's a lot faster and easier, and a lot more appealing to a bigger section of voters, to say, "We need to keep track of our pervs," than to take the time to argue the legitimate first-amendment case, as has been done in the comments above.
Daniels could paint any opponent to the law as a porn-lover. I don't know whether he would, but I bet it'd be effective.
It's not a lot to worry about. The ACLU is all over it. We apparently missed an opportunity to send a letter to mitch that they had on their website.
It's obviously unconstitutional. Indiana is the only state in the country that has this type of law.
It looks like other folks are working on resolving this as well:
http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6544559.html
Or for those in the community that love and support randy smith you can contact mitch here:
http://www.in.gov/gov/2310.htm
"the pen is mightier than the sword" Edward Bulwer-Lytton
Eric,
Good to hear from you. Hope all's well in Jersey.
You're probably right about the pandering. So much for Mitch making the hard decisions.
Wow. A Jersey Shore citation. I miss my Jersey Shore and the ocean!!!
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