Members of Media Coalition and Others File Suit to Block Alaska Censorship Law
On July 31, members of Media Coalition, local booksellers and artists, and the ACLU of Alaska filed suit to block an Alaska law that bans constitutionally protected speech on the Internet if that speech can be deemed "harmful to minors." The law, signed by Governor Parnell in May and effective July 1, exposes anyone who manages a webpage or operates a listserv to criminal prosecution if nudity or sexually related material is posted in such venues, in effect banning from the Internet anything that may be harmful to minors, including material adults have a First Amendment right to view. In addition, a bookseller, video retailer, or librarian can be prosecuted if he or she unknowingly sells or loans a book, video, or magazine containing nudity or sexual content - whether online or in a brick and mortar store. Violators of the law's provisions can be sentenced to up to two years in prison, must register as sex offenders, and could be forced to forfeit their business.
Plaintiffs in the suit are the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the Alaska Library Association, the American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska, the Association of American Publishers, Bosco's Inc., the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, Don Douglas Photography, the Entertainment Merchants Association, Fireside Books, the Freedom to Read Foundation, and Title Wave Books.
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