The moonshine by the Wabash

A judge yesterday blocked an Indiana law passed earlier this year that would have required bookstores to pay a $250 fee and register to sell "sexually explicit materials." The law was to take effect July 1. Details are here in this Indianapolis Star story. The text of the ruling is available at www.abffe.com/bighatbooksopinion.pdf.

On a complaint filed by bookstores, the state chapter of the ACLU, and the Indianapolis Museum of Art, U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker ruled the law was so broad as to violate the First Amendment to the Constitution. "Sexually explicit" was defined to include materials that "describes or represents in any form, nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or sado-masochistic conduct."

The plaintiffs contended that the law would have applied to sex guides for married couples or such works of literature as Lolita. It appears, indeed, that it would have applied to an art book that showed the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, or publication of a conservative Christian sermon condemning "sexual conduct" if it described the offending conduct.

Barker wrote that "the likelihood of confusion and the resultant self-censorship is very high, creating a chilling effect on otherwise free speech."