Countdown 'Til I'm In Jail
Or at least in the poorhouse. One of our elected idiots, California Congressman Duncan Hunter, has introduced legislation that could, in his words, ìturn parents into prosecuting attorneys fighting a wave of obscenity":
H.B. 4239, also called the ìParentsí Empowerment Act,î would allow the parent or guardian of a minor to sue in federal court anyone who knowingly disseminates any media containing ìmaterial that is harmful to minorsî if the material is distributed in a way that ìa reasonable person can expect a substantial number of minors to be exposed to the material and the minor, as a result to exposure to the material, is likely to suffer personal or emotional injury or injury to mental or moral welfare.î The bill has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee.The bill allows compensatory damages starting at no less than $10,000 for any instance in which a minor is exposed to ìharmful to minorsî entertainment products. The bill also allows that punitive damages and reasonable fees may be awarded to the prevailing party at the discretion of the court. The bill also seeks to strengthen the current test courts utilize in determining what is obscene material by providing a separate definition of obscenity specifically for children. It is an affirmative defense to action under this bill if a parent or guardian of the minor owned the material.
The bill is in its earliest stage, but if it passes, it will seriously threaten retailers, distributors, and publishers. Family.org talked to Hunter who said, ìIf the people who published (the material), published it in such a way that they could reasonably have expected children to access it, then the parents can receive an award of $10,000.î
One more reason to dethrone the Puritan-In-Chief and many of the numbskull Republicans. At least the numbskull Democrats aren't so threatening to our freedoms. Too many Republicans treat The Constitution like a piece of old paper toweling. If your kid can't handle a dirty word or prurient comic, keep him locked in a closet and blindfolded. Don't try to curtail creators from writing and speaking freely.
(via Reason's blog)
The first time any parent threatens any such suit, someone else should countersue the parent for child abuse by allowing the child to come into contact with the offensive material in the first place.
LYT at May 21, 2004 3:05 PM
In response to the concept that Republicans are more threatening to one's freedoms, I offer the following losses of freedom attributable to Dems on a CW basis. How about the increasing loss of one's freedom to keep earned income due to higher and higher taxes. Okay, the elephants are at least enablers on that. And there's the threat of court action and punishment for a whole catalog of unpolitically correct usage of words and nuanced phrasing in the workplace or campus. Less freedom to fire incompetent teachers seems pretty threatening to educational freedom. Both parties seem equally ready to jerk away a freedom of an out group and give it to an in group. Racial quotas, gender quotas, access to public funds, access to public lands. Architectural restrictions, pharmaceutical restrictions, public gathering permits, entertainment licenses just to dance at the neighborhood bar. You getting the picture? Government by elephants or jackasses all comes down to controlling freedoms. Whether it's your pet peeve of overbearing religious sorts or mine of legal extortion, it all flows from the layering of law upon law, regulation upon regulation, by whoever wields the most power currently. When's the last time you heard of them taking a law off the books? Perhaps the saving grace for us in the US is that our government for the most part consists of various political and institutional forces that tend to cancel out one another most of the time. Except when it comes to gouging our incomes for ever increasing taxes, fees, permits, licenses, tolls, all which in whole or part support the expansion of even bigger government. Paying for basic services, security, and efficiencies of scale is grand and beautiful in concept and when applied. Unfortunately, this has become but a small proportion of a hugely bloated government feeding, no, gorging itself at will. Talk about obesity and gross slurping...
allan at May 22, 2004 12:51 AM
Thanks for that Allan.
Crid at May 22, 2004 10:14 AM
Alan, believe me, if there were Democrats in office, I'd be railing against them for what you say above -- especially the PC stuff, and overtaxing -- something the "free trade" (yeah, right) and tax relief (please!) fundamentalist nutbag in the oval office has done very well at. I'm disgusted by the government we're stuck with these days. I would have happily voted for John McCain, who at least seems to have integrity -- something both current candidates seem to lack.
Amy Alkon at May 22, 2004 11:33 AM
I wrote a letter to Sen McCain last week urging him to accept a position, if offered, in the Kerry administration. John Mccain would be an excellent vice president (especially if he later became president), secretary of defense, or secretary of state. There is no love lost between Mr McCain and Dubya either. Some may remember the smear tactics Dubya used in the primaries against McCain 4 years ago. Perhaps if Senator McCain heard from many of us from both sides of the fence he may reconsider such a historic move.....
Did you all catch Hastert (my shoulder hurts so I can't join the military) chastising McCain a few days back about how McCain should go to the military hospitals if he wants to know what it means to sacrifice for his country? Am I the only one slightly outraged at this?
eric at May 22, 2004 12:35 PM