Indiana cracks down on booksellers offering sexually explicit material!

Mar 26 2008

What happens when a bunch of lawmakers decide that it’s a good idea to make booksellers register with the state government if they sell "sexually explicit material"?

I’m not sure what the answer is, but we’ll probably see a few lawsuits and some good court battles as a result. Basically, on March 13 the governor of Indiana signed into law a bill that requires booksellers to register with the state if they sell sexually explicit material. How do they define sexually explicit material, you ask? Here’s what Publishers Weekly is reporting:

"Sexually explicit material" is defined as any product that is "harmful to minors" under existing law.

I’m glad those genius lawmakers were specific enough so there’s no gray area (sarcasm!). Basically, any sexual content in a book sold at a bookstore could be seen as sexually explicit and thus is harmful to minors. This means that even classics like Shakespeare could qualify, not to mention a lot of contemporary literature, books on human sexuality, photography books with nude photos and…well… you get the idea.

According to the South Bend Tribune, registering not only places you on a list of places the government will track, but you also must fork over some dough:

The law, which takes effect July 1, requires bookstores to pay a $250 fee and register with the state if they sell sexually explicit books or movies. That information would then be shared with local officials, who could monitor businesses for violations of local regulations.

So now your local Borders and indie bookshops will be lumped into the same group as porn stores. I can’t think that there is any justification for this law other than it’s another way for the Indiana government to start slipping their fingers into the world of literature. Here’s what one co-sponsor of the bill has to say on why he thinks it’s a good idea:

State Sen. Brent Steele, R-Bedford, who co-sponsored the legislation, said it was aimed at helping counties without zoning ordinances track adult businesses.

Maybe State Sen. Steele hasn’t groped a lot of books in his lifetime. Or maybe he just didn’t think a law like this would rub people the wrong way. Either way, his reasoning is pretty flacid. If he had more foresight, he might be able predict the type of lawsuits and first amendment issues this law will surely mount. I might just go to South Bend over the weekend to protest this law myself.

While the penalty for not registering isn’t much, and neither is the fee for registering, it’s merely the principle that even classic literature can be lumped into the same group as porn that really irritates me. I’ve written about sex in literature before, and sex is one of those unavoidable areas that writers are going to explore in their work. Sex in literature doesn’t automatically mean it’s porn, yet that is exactly what this law assumes (albeit not intentionally).

Another scary aspect of what Indiana is doing is that there aren’t any other laws similar to this in the country. So if this law is successful and is allowed to stay on the books, more states could adapt similar legislation. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think booksellers should have to go underground to sell literature to the public.

This will be a story I’m going to follow closely and will post any relevant updates. Stay tuned…

Indiana booksellers predict lawsuit over explicit material law

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