American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression et al v. Sullivan

Filing 92

DECLARATION of David Horowitz re 87 MOTION for Attorney Fees Plaintiffs' Application for Attorneys' Fees and Expenses by Alaska Library Association, American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska, Association of American Publishers, Inc., Book Blizzard LLC, Bosco's, Inc., Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, David & Melissa LLC, Donald R. Douglas, Entertainment Merchants Association, Freedom to Read Foundation. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit A, # 2 Exhibit B, # 3 Exhibit C, # 4 Exhibit D, # 5 Exhibit E, # 6 Exhibit F, # 7 Exhibit G, # 8 Exhibit H, # 9 Exhibit I, # 10 Exhibit J, # 11 Exhibit K)(Bamberger, Michael)

Exhibit J

American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression Association of American Publishers, Inc. Comic Book Legal Defense Fund Entertainment Consumers Association Entertainment Merchants Association
Entertainment Software Association Freedom to Read Foundation Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. National Association of Recording Merchandisers Recording Industry Association of America, Inc.

February 14, 2011

Senator Hollis French, Chair
Senator Bill Wielechowski, Vice-Chair
Senate Judiciary Committee
Alaska State Senate
Juneau, AK 99801
Delivered by email
Re: Section 9 of Senate Bill 72
Dear Chairman French and Vice-Chair Wielechowski,
The members of Media Coalition have asked me to communicate their concerns
regarding S.B. 72 sec. 9. The trade associations and other organizations that comprise Media
Coalition have many members throughout the country, including Alaska: publishers, booksellers
and librarians as well as manufacturers and retailers of recordings, films, videos and video games
and their consumers. Some of our members are plaintiffs in American Booksellers Foundation
for Free Expression (ABFFE) v. Burns (preliminary injunction granted as ABFFE v. Sullivan) a
First Amendment challenge to 11.61.128(a).
Section 9 of S.B. 72 would narrow AS 11.61.128(a) to only criminalize the distribution of
material “harmful to minors” by an adult if the recipient is under 16 years old and the adult is
reckless regarding the recipients age or the adult believes the recipient is less than 16 years old.
The legislation would also add a knowledge requirement as to the content being sent to the
minor.
This bill is an improvement on AS 11.61.128(a) which was enjoined October 21, but
even with these changes the law would still violate the First Amendment and the Commerce
Clause of the U.S. Constitution. We welcome the opportunity to work with the Attorney General
and this Committee to amend Section 9 to make it constitutionally sound. We believe that
modest changes to the bill would cure the constitutional problems in Section 9 while still
providing law enforcement with the means to protect minors from adults looking to prey on
them.
We appreciate the chance to share our concerns with the Judiciary Committee. If you
Executive Director: David Horowitz Chair: Judith Platt, Association of American Publishers
Immediate past Chair: Chris Finan, American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression Treasurer: Vans Stevenson, Motion Picture Association of America
Declaration of DavidMichael A. Bamberger, SNR Page USof 2
General Counsel: Horowitz, Exhibit J, Denton 1 LLP
19 Fulton Street, Suite 407 | New York, NY 10038 | 212.587.4025 | mediacoalition.org

would like to discuss further our position on this bill, please contact me at 212-587-4025 #3 or at
[e-mail].
Respectfully submitted,
/s/ David Horowitz

David Horowitz
Executive Director
Media Coalition, Inc.
cc:

Senator Paskvan
Senator McGuire
Senator Coghill

Declaration of David Horowitz, Exhibit J, Page 2 of 2