MEDIA COALITION HIGHLIGHTS 1996-1997

Media Coalition Fights Federal Censorship

In September 1996, Congress approved the Child Pornography Prevention Act. While the members of Media Coalition strongly oppose child pornography, the original version of the bill was a radical and unconstitutional expansion of the current definition of child pornography. In testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Media Coalition Chair Judith F. Krug said the bill would ban drawings, photographs and other images that depict adults who "appear" to be minors and could be applied to all nude depictions of children, whether Renaissance art like Donatello's David or commercial representations like the Coppertone ad of the young girl whose bathing suit is being tugged off by a dog. In response to these criticisms, the bill was narrowed significantly. However, there is still serious concern about the constitutionality of the law. It has been challenged in court by a trade association representing producers and distributors of sexually explicit material. Also in September 1996, Congress approved the Military Honor and Decency Act of 1996, a bill that violates the First Amendment rights of U.S. servicemen and women by banning the sale or rental, at a military facility, of any magazine, recording or video that "depicts or describes nudity....in a lascivious way." Media Coalition attempted to rally public opposition to the bill. Before a hearing could be held, however, Representative Robert K. Dornan (R-CA) succeeded in adding it to the military appropriations bill. In January, a U.S. District Court struck down the law in a case brought by General Media, Inc., publisher of Penthouse. The U.S. Court of Appeals heard arguments in the case in April. Media Coalition Helps Overturn U.S., New York Internet Bans In June 1997, members of Media Coalition were among the victorious plaintiffs in two lawsuits that challenged broad restrictions on using the Internet to transmit material with sexual content. On June 26, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the federal Communications Decency Act, a law that banned the transmission of "indecent" material by computer. "Although the Government has an interest in protecting children from potentially harmful materials, the CDA pursues that interest by suppressing a large amount of speech that adults have a constitutional right to send and receive. Its breadth is wholly unprecedented," Justice John Paul Stevens wrote for the majority. Although two Justices dissented in part, substantial portions of the opinion were unanimous. Media Coalition members were also plaintiffs in the case that overturned a New York law banning computer transmission of material that is "harmful to minors." In addition to arguing that the law would suppress constitutionally protected material, the New York lawsuit, which was brought by the New York Civil Liberties Union, the plaintiffs argued that the New York law regulated interstate commerce, a power reserved to the Congress by the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution. The decision should make it easier to persuade state legislators not to adopt new Internet restrictions. Media Coalition Members Condemn Suppression of The Tin Drum In July 1997, members of Media Coalition joined 30 national groups in condemning efforts by Oklahoma City authorities to suppress a wide range of First Amendment-protected material, including the Academy Award-winning film, The Tin Drum. Under pressure from a local pro-censorship group, the Oklahoma City police confiscated videos of the film from several video stores and the Oklahoma City library. In addition, they went to the homes of at least two individuals who had rented the video and seized their copies as well. The pro-censorship group, Oklahomans for Children and Families, alleged that The Tin Drum depicts child pornography. The Video Software Dealers Association and the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma have filed lawsuits challenging the police actions. In recent months, pressure by OCAF has prompted authorities to prosecute obscenity charges against two comic book dealers and several convenience store employees. The charges against the convenience store retailers were later dropped, but there were reports that police harassment of magazine retailers was continuing. Media Coalition wrote the police chief in an effort to end this harassment.

Media Coalition Defends Film, The People versus Larry Flynt

In January 1997, Columbia Pictures released Milos Forman's controversial movie about the life of Hustler publisher Larry Flynt, The People versus Larry Flynt. Forman said his film celebrated free expression and the role that the U.S. Supreme Court has played as a guardian of the First Amendment. Recognizing the importance of the film, Media Coalition sought to promote it as widely as possible. It hosted two screening of the film in New York in December. When Gloria Steinem and others attacked the movie for allegedly whitewashing Flynt and his magazine, Media Coalition defended it in a letter published in the New York Times, urging critics not to lose sight of the threat of censorship in the United States today. To dramatize current threats to free speech, it joined other civil liberties groups in holding a press conference on the steps of the Hamilton County Courthouse in Cincinnati where Flynt had been convicted of obscenity and sentenced to 25 years in prison in 1977.

Media Coalition Helps Defeat Oregon Censorship Amendment

In November 1996, voters in Oregon were asked for the second time in two years to vote on an amendment to the state constitution that would give the legislature the power to adopt a law banning the sale of obscene material. The Oregon Supreme Court has ruled that the state constitution's free expression clause protects even material that is legally obscene in other states. In 1994, Media Coalition worked with Oregon booksellers, librarians, video and recording retailers to urge Oregon voters not to limit the right to free expression, and the amendment was defeated by 54 per cent of the voters. The amendment was rejected in 1996 by 57 per cent. Sponsors said they had no plans to try again in the near future.

Illinois Legislature Rejects Local Community Standards

In April 1997, the Illinois legislature rejected a bill that would have authorized the use of local community standards rather than a state standard in defining obscenity. Supporters of the bill argued that the use of local standards would give small communities greater control over their own affairs. But librarians, booksellers and other opponents of the legislation argued that local standards would inhibit the dissemination of many non-obscene works. Media Coalition has worked closely with the opponents of local community standards in Illinois for two years. It is anticipated that the sponsors of local community standards will try again next year.