CBLDF Case Files — Illinois v. Correa

On November 18, 1986, Officer Anthony van Gorp and his partner, while “monitoring places where youths congregate,” purchased 15 comics from Michael Correa, manager of the comic book store Friendly Frank’s in Lansing, Illinois. Within a month, Correa was arrested and charged with the possession and sale of obscene materials. On January 1, 1988, Correa was found guilty by the State of Illinois, fined $750, and sentenced to court supervision for the course of one year.

After Correa’s arrest, Frank Mangiaracina, the owner of Friendly Frank’s, contacted Kitchen Sink Press owner Denis Kitchen. “Frank called me because I was one of the publishers who got him busted,” Kitchen says. “He was pretty distraught. His store manager had been charged with some very serious offenses. What frustrated me was that Frank was struggling to take care of this himself and it didn’t seem fair.”

Kitchen asked artists and creators to donate work to help raise money to cover legal costs. The assistance of the comics community covered expenditures during the trial and appeal. On appeal, the judge declared that the comics at issue were “bizarre,” but they did not constitute obscenity. He overturned Correa’s guilty verdict on November 16, 1989.

Kitchen’s fundraising exceeded expectations, and he used the surplus $20,000 to found the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. After reiterating the importance of the Fund’s ongoing support of the comics industry, Kitchen relates, “Most local prosecutors aren’t aware of the laws that protect comic-book creators and publishers. Usually they’re just acting on the complaints of an irate mother, a fundamentalist group, or maybe someone who was just offended. To them it’s someone selling a dirty comic to a kid. But nine times out of ten it is a responsible retailer and an overzealous cop or prosecutor.” Kitchen adds, “I think where being aggressive would pay off is in educational programs and making sure that retailers, artists, and publishers all know what their rights are.”

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Joining the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund puts you on the front line of the fight against censorship! Your membership dollars provide the tools to fight back when comic book readers, retailers, and artists are muzzled, censored, or attacked! When you become a CBLDF member, you are proclaiming that comics are important and that you are a protector of their First Amendment rights! Join now!Read the full post