The Gordon Lee case has been delayed again. First it was a broken air conditioner, now the judge has taken ill, and there is no word on when the Rome, Georgia case will proceed.
For the record it has been nearly three years since the initial incident where Lee allegedly gave a copy of Alternative Comics to a minor. This is one of the most stupid cases I have ever seen, and there is no reason this case should have been allowed to continue this long.
The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is helping Lee with the case and think the case should be rejected for several reasons.
As for the motion to dismiss the misdemeanors, the Fund’s brief argued that Georgia’s harmful to minors law is, in fact, unconstitutional. In the Memorandum In Support of Defendants Motions To Dismiss, counsel states: “the depictions of Picasso in the story are lawful and thus the distribution to minors is lawful because:
1) The depictions and story are non-obscene protected material pursuant to the First Amendment of the U.S. constitution;
2) The State has no legitimate interest in banning non-obscene, non-sexually explicit nudity to minors under due process;
3) The proscriptions at issue, as applied to this material, in so far as it requires warning labels, ignores the fact that material with nudity, but not sexually explicit conduct is distributed throughout Floyd County without prosecution, in violation of equal protection guarantees;
4) The proscriptions at issue, as applied to this material, is arbitrary and capricious, in violations of due process;
5) The proscriptions at issue are overbroad because they make illegal material with simple nudity which were not intended to be proscribed, and for which the government has no legitimate reason to make illegal; and
6) The terms used in §§ 16-12-81 and 16-12-103 are vague because they fail to notify citizens and law enforcement as to what material (if any) with simple nudity is prohibited.”
Fund counsel held that the law which Lee is being charged under is “so overbroad” that it could be applied (with requisite charges filed against anyone who would sell) Batman, Superman, or even a Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, and applied, as it is written to all nudity, no matter the context.”
You can see one of the panels in question after the jump.
