Wow. Just wow.

[fictional]

The puritannical, barbaric, and unsophisticated nature of this country and its laws never cease to amaze me.

Arrested? For this? Really? Really?!

Comments

excuse me while I tl;dr at you

[kayliemalinza.livejournal.com]

After Strikethroughgate, you're surprised?

It's the same damn thing. Except in this case, there's actual legal action being taken, and the person being attacked is part of a marginalized group that is slightly more well-known than LJ slashers. I guess that means the case will get more public sympathy? And by "more" I mean "any at all."


I googled it and found another article (http://www.cbldf.org/pr/archives/000372.shtml). Some good news:

Eric Chase and his team at the United Defense Group have been vigorously defending Handley, and scored a major First Amendment victory earlier this year when the judge found portions of the PROTECT Act unconstitutional in his ruling on a motion to dismiss. District Judge Gritzner of the Southern District of Iowa found that subsections 1466(a)(2) and (b)(2) of 18 U.S.C. 1466A unconstitutional. Those sections make it a crime to knowingly produce, distribute, receive, or possess with intent to distribute, "a visual depiction of any kind, including a drawing, cartoon, sculpture, or painting," that "is, or appears to be" a minor engaged in sexual conduct. Judge Gritzner found that those sections restrict protected speech and are constitutionally infirm.

It seems (based on the article's next paragraph) that Handley's case is now dependent on the Miller test, which is a bucket of laughs and does not have any crippling issues such as inherent subjectivity and blatant ridiculousness, not at all, mister. (I'm sure you've heard about the Miller Test, as it was bandied about a lot during the furor surrounding Strikethroughgate.)

The main problem with the Miller test is that it purports to rely on "common sense judgement." However, if the Miller test were applied in a common sense way, all porn would be outlawed. The court systems would be overloaded with cases, and a multi-billion dollar industry would be wiped out overnight and replaced with a multi-billion dollar black market. That black market would then have to be investigated and prosecuted by every single municipal court and run-down police force in every podunk town or city in the whole goddamn country. That would be fabulous, though, because everyone knows the cops don't have enough work as it is, right? It'd be like the War on Drugs, but more retarded: hard drugs and gang cultures are actually a problem. Porn and marijuana? Not so much.

[magnetgirl.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's horrible. I've heard other horrible CBLDF stories in the same vein. Basically, even though the book itself passed into obscurity in the mainstream, the crazy theories and assumptions put forth in "Seduction of the Innocent" by Frank Wertham are alive and well. That book starts out somewhat normal, and then by the end of it Wertham stands firmly in cold-war crazytown-population him.

Also, bit of 6 degrees here: "Look through your comic book collection. Do you have Alan Moore’s “Lost Girls”? Any of S. Clay Wilson’s Underground Comix? Even Neil Gaiman’s “Sandman” series? If the prosecution of manga collector Christopher Handley sticks, all of that and more could be considered obscene, Gaiman told MTV."

S. Clay Wilson is Lorraine's (my mom's best friend from her crazy days) long term boyfriend. He's actually in the hospital right now, maybe I told you?