Category: News Blog

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NYC: CBLDF Needs Volunteers Next Week!

Want to help the CBLDF? Next week is a great opportunity, because we need volunteers in our home office on Monday and Tuesday to help us send our end of year report to our members. Get a first look at this cool item, and make a difference to the Fund by assisting us with this important mailing. We’re looking for volunteers who can give at least 4 hours between 10 am and 10 pm on either or both days. In exchange for your work, we’ll be serving lunch and dinner, and will also offer a $20 credit in the CBLDF Reward Zone. Please email a volunteer application to alex.cox@cbldf.org if you can help!

Link: Analysis of Steve Kutzner Protect Act Case

The Hooded Utilitarian’s Sean Michael Robinson delivers a well constructed analysis of the case of Steve Kutzner, an Idaho man who plead guilty to possession of “obscene visual representations of child sexual abuse” last month.

The most widely reported element of Kutzner’s conviction is that he plead guilty to possessing pornographic art depicting characters from the Simpsons, but Robinson digs into the plea agreement and talks to the prosecuting attorney to find that the case wasn’t so clear-cut. Kutzner was flagged by German authorities who believed he was participating in file-sharing of actual child pornography, and when United States authorities investigated they found there was evidence enough to argue that he had, although that evidence was triable.

Robinson’s reporting paints a vivid picture of the legal issues at stake. He speculates on the probable defensive posture that would have been taken if this case had gone to trial, emphasizing that the government would have had the burden of proving the material Kutzner plead guilty to possessing was obscene.

More intriguingly, he illustrates how the threat of mandatory minimum sentences is being used by prosecutors to scare up plea agreements from people like Kutzner and Handley.

The conclusion Robinson arrives at is that, in this case, probably Kutzner was guilty of something. But the law in question is being applied on a case by case basis in a way that makes more people vulnerable to prosecution for possession of drawings. As more prosecutors begin taking up these sorts of cases, the line between art and obscene visual representations of child sexual abuse is in the eye of the prosecuting beholder.

It’s a good article about a bad law.

Happy Birthday Neil Gaiman!

Neil Gaiman is celebrated for his creative works which invoke human values, belief systems, and decisions in a way that has resonated with many generations. His energies on the page are enough to merit him all the recognition he has received, but his efforts go beyond storytelling. Outside of his creative contributions, Neil has stridently directed his energies towards working as a force for good. Today, on the occasion of his fiftieth birthday, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund salutes Neil and the good works he’s accomplished.

CBLDF Launches Improved Rewards Zone!

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is proud to unveil a new and improved CBLDF Rewards Zone, filled with books and art signed by CBLDF supporting creators to thank our contributors for their donations!

Items from the CBLDF Rewards Zone make great gifts for the comics fan in your life, and ensure that the First Amendment rights of the comics community are energetically protected now and into the future!

The CBLDF is able to perform our important legal work because of the contributions of our supporters, most of whom donate less than $50 at a time, as they can afford it. The Fund makes a point of acknowledging these donations with great premiums that are donated by supporting creators and publishers. Creators who contribute to the CBLDF Reward Zone include Amanda Conner, Neil Gaiman, Jaime Hernandez, Garth Ennis, Tony Harris, Joe Hill, Larry Marder, Terry Moore, Frank Miller, and Darick Robertson — to name a small handful!

Please take a look at the CBLDF Rewards Zone today. Your donations will help us keep up the good fight, and put you in possession of some of the coolest comics items in the world!

CBLDF Hits KING CON In Brooklyn!

The CBLDF will be exhibiting this weekend at the Second Annual KING CON, in Brooklyn, the Borough of Kings. KING CON takes place at the historic Brooklyn Lyceum, and wlll feature many local guests, such as Chris Claremont, Jonathan Ames, and Becky Cloonan.

Please stop by the CBLDF table if you are attending KING CON; we will have plenty of donation premiums, and as always, you can certainly join or contribute to the fund in person.

For more information visit http://www.kingconbrooklyn.com/

A Divided Supreme Court Ponders the Fate of California Law Restricting Violent Video Games

Robert Corn-Revere, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund’s general counsel, provides a detailed summary and analysis of the oral arguments in Schwarzenegger v. EMA, which was argued in front of the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this week. One of the country’s leading First Amendment experts, Corn-Revere successfully litigated U.S. v. Stevens and recently wrote the CBLDF’s amicus brief in the Schwarzenegger case. Full story follows the jump.

A Skeptical Supreme Court Hears Schwarzenegger v. EMA

Yesterday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Schwarzenegger v. EMA, a case addressing whether states can ban the sale of violent video games to minors without also violating the First Amendment. A full transcript of oral arguments has been made available here. Coverage emerging since arguments concluded yesterday indicate that the Court appears skeptical towards the California law’s constitutionality. After the jump, we gather the news and analysis.

Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments In Schwarzenegger v. EMA

This morning the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Schwarzenegger v. EMA, a case addressing whether states can ban the sale of violent video games to minors without also violating the First Amendment. The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund wrote a brief in support of the video game industry, urging the court to to affirm the Ninth Circuit’s decision that a California law banning the sale or rental of any video game containing violent content to minors, and requiring manufacturers to label such games, is unconstitutional. The CBLDF brief emphasizes the history of moral panic that led to the comics industry being decimated in the wake of government scrutiny in the 1950s.

Early reports from oral arguments indicate that members of the court were “sympathetic” to the California law, but strongly questioned its constitutionality. Full story, with links to analysis and transcripts, follows the break.

Preliminary Injunction Granted Against Massachusetts Online Censorship Law

U.S. District Judge Rya W. Zobel granted a preliminary injunction against the online censorship law that went into effect in Massachusetts earlier this year. Massachusetts booksellers, trade associations including the CBLDF, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts filed suit in July to block the law because it imposes severe restrictions on constitutionally protected speech on the Internet, on the grounds that such material might be “harmful to minors.” The Court enjoined the law because it did not require that such material was purposefully sent to a person the sender knew to be a minor.