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 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
[e-mail].
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