Yesterday, CrimProf had a post pointing to an NPR story that about a comic book store owner who is being charged because he gave away a comic book with nudity on Halloween to a minor:
Gordon Lee, owner of Legends Comic Book Store in Rome, Ga., goes on trial this week over whether he willfully gave a comic that depicted nudity to a child. His store took part in a downtown trick-or-treat celebration three years ago. Instead of candy, Lee handed out free comics. One of them had two drawings showing painter Pablo Picasso moving about his studio in the nude, his genitals clearly exposed. Lee was arrested a week later. The case worries the comic book industry, which fears limits on artistic expression.
I found this local news account containing more details about the case:
Three years after a child was allegedly given a publication containing nudity in his store, Rome comic book storeowner Gordon Clifford Lee is set to go to trial today.
Lee is charged with distributing harmful materials to a minor, a misdemeanor. The charges stem from a Halloween 2004 giveaway when an employee of Legends Comics in Rome gave a copy of Alternative Comics No. 2 to two 6-and 9-year-old brothers.
In the comic book, a series of drawings with pictures of a naked Pablo Picasso were used to depict the artist’s first meeting with artist Georges Braque. The two artists are considered the founders of Cubism. Picasso is depicted in the nude, which, according to Charles Brownstein, executive director of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, is historically accurate.
The CBLDF has been representing Lee in this matter.
Lee was originally charged with six counts, including two felonies in 2004, but during the course of the case all but two charges have been dismissed. Lee faces two misdemeanor charges and could be sentenced to up to a year in prison and a $1,000 fine for each count if convicted.
That's a pretty heft penalty for a pretty minor crime (if it is a crime at all). However, it appears that perhaps Lee should have know better. From the same story:
This is not Lee’s first go-round in these type proceedings.
In 1994 he was found guilty of distributing obscene material by a Floyd County jury.
In that case, the son of Sandra Allen of Rome received two comics from Lee’s store described as pornographic by Floyd County Judge Larry Salmon. The two adult books were entitled Debbie Does Dallas and Final Taboo.
After being convicted Lee took his case to the Georgia Court of Appeals, but the conviction was unanimously affirmed. The Georgia Supreme Court refused to hear his appeal.
Then again, a nude Pablo Picasso doesn't strike me as the same as a "Debbie Does Dallas" comic. Either way, it's an interesting case that I would have hoped could have been resolved outside the courtroom.
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