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)

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Exhibit I 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 4, 2011 The Honorable Carl Gatto, Chair Representative Thompson, Vice-Chair House Judiciary Committee Alaska State House of Representatives Juneau, AK 99801 Delivered by email Re: Section 9 of House Bill 127 Dear Chairman Gatto and Vice-Chair Thompson, The members of Media Coalition have asked me to communicate their concerns regarding H.B. 127 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 H.B. 127 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 US 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 David Horowitz, Exhibit I, Page 1 of 2 General Counsel: Michael A. Bamberger, SNR Denton US 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 horowitz@mediacoalition.org. Respectfully submitted, /s/ David Horowitz David Horowitz Executive Director Media Coalition, Inc. cc: Representative Keller Representative Lynn Representative Pruitt Representative Gruenberg Representative Holmes Representative Cheneault, Alternate Declaration of David Horowitz, Exhibit I, Page 2 of 2

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