Posted on 12/31/2003 5:40:00 PM PST by chance33_98
New Law To Cover Up Sexually Explicit Mags May Spark Lawsuit
Retailers Could Face Misdemeanor For Failing To Comply With Magazine Law
POSTED: 3:18 PM EST December 31, 2003 UPDATED: 3:35 PM EST December 31, 2003
LANSING, Mich. -- A New York-based First Amendment advocacy group is considering filing a lawsuit over a new Michigan law that takes effect Thursday requiring storeowners to cover up sexually explicit magazines or put them in restricted areas.
The law, intended to keep pornographic material away from children, is one of a few new laws taking effect on the first day of 2004. Others will make it a felony for throwing objects at moving vehicles causing an injury and using or producing an experimental electromagnetic pulse device called an "e-bomb," which fries electrical equipment.
David Horowitz, executive director of The Media Coalition Inc., said the new law requiring retailers to conceal the lower two-thirds of sexually explicit magazine covers or put them in a separate area may unconstitutionally restrict the rights of adults to browse such material.
"We don't dispute that minors don't have a right to look at this material, the problem is how do you do that without barring access to adults, who have a right to it," Horowitz said.
Brad Snavely, director of the Lansing-based advocacy group Michigan Family Forum, said the new law is similar to others in Ohio and Indiana and will withstand a constitutional challenge because the courts have said sexually explicit materials can be restricted from minors.
"I think it would be a real stretch for a law like this to be thrown out," he said Tuesday. "We're saying that this material has to be displayed in a way that children can't view it. If they can't buy it, why should we allow them to consume it?"
Detroit Democratic Rep. Triette E. Reeves introduced the legislation after parents complained that sexually explicit material was prominently displayed when taking their children to restrooms in gas stations.
Although the law is intended to hide the covers of magazines such as Playboy, Horowitz said it could apply to art books that aren't covered or sealed and listening booths where music customers can hear CDs before buying them.
"If a record store has a listening station, it could be considered illegal if you have on there the latest Eminem," he said, referring to the explicit lyrics of the Michigan rapper.
Under the new law, retailers face a misdemeanor punishable by up to 93 days in jail and a $5,000 fine if they fail to cover up explicit material or put it in a separate area.
Eric Rule, director of government affairs for the Michigan Retailers Association, said the legislation won't be too much for members of his organization. Business owners won't be penalized if a sexually explicit magazine is taken out of its place by a customer and inadvertently left in plain site, he said.
Horowitz said The Media Coalition will decide next week whether to file a lawsuit over the law.
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