Alaska Governor Signs Senate Bill 222, Criminalizing Electronic Speech

Alaska Governor Sean Parnell signed into law on May 14 a bill that seeks to curb adults' First Amendment rights by criminalizing (as a Class C felony) sexual imagery that is "harmful to minors" posted on generally accessible websites, listservs, blogs, social networking sites, and via other electronic means of communication. In other words, Alaska's governor has just signed a bill that restricts electronic speech to such an extent that material is only allowable if it is appropriate for viewing by minors. The bill also leaves intact a provision of Alaska law that makes it a Class C felony for a bookseller or librarian to sell or loan a book, magazine or film that contains any sort of sexual speech deemed "harmful to minors." Particularly because of its electronic provision, Media Coalition believes strongly that this legislation is unconstitutional.

Media Coalition lobbied to help legislators create a bill that could pass constitutional muster and succeeded in having the three prongs of the Miller/Ginsberg test added to the definition of material categorized as "harmful to minors." Under that test, material is "harmful" only if an average person applying contemporary community standards would find that the material, taken as a whole, appeals solely to a prurient interest  in sex; if a reasonable person would find that the material, taken as a whole, lacks serious artistic, literary, educational, political, or scientific value; and if the material depicts actual or simulated conduct in a way that is patently offensive to the prevailing standards in the adult community with respect to what is suitable for persons under 16 years of age. Had the bill not contained this provision, it could have criminalized books, films, and other media simply because it contained any sexual content - even if that content were educational in nature.

But even with the Miller/Ginsberg requirements added in, the bill's application to general speech on the Internet and other electronic platforms is constitutionally unacceptable.

updated 5/17/10