Powell's Books, Inc. et al v. Myers et al

Filing 10

Declaration of David Greenberg. Filed by all plaintiffs. (eo)

Powell's Books, Inc. et al v. Myers et al

Doc. 10

P.K. Runkles-Pearson, OSB No. 061911 [e-mail] STOEL RIVES L L P 9 0 0 S W Fifth Avenue, S u i t e 2 6 0 0 Portland, O R 9 7 2 0 4 Telephone: (503) 2 2 4 - 3 3 8 0 Facsimile: (503) 2 2 0 - 2 4 8 0 Michael A. B a m b e r g e r [e-mail] Rachel G. Balaban [e-mail] S O N N E N S C H E I N N A T H & R O S E N T H A L LLP 1221 Avenue o f t h e Americas, 2 4 t h F l o o r N e w York, N Y 10020 Telephone: (212) 7 6 8 - 6 7 0 0 Facsimile: (212) 3 9 1 - 1 2 4 7 Attorneys for Plaintiffs

UNITED STATES DISTRICT C O U R T DISTRICT O F O R E G O N

P O W E L L ' S B O O K S , INC., e t aI., Plaintiffs,

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v.
H A R D Y M Y E R S , i n h i s official c a p a c i t y as A T T O R N E Y G E N E R A L O F T H E S T A T E OF O R E G O N , e t al., Defendants.

DECLARATION OF D AV r D G R E E N B E R G

I, D A V I D GREENBERG, certify and declare as follows:

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Dockets.Justia.com

Background 1. I am t h e P r e s i d e n t a n d C E O o f P l a n n e d P a r e n t h o o d o f t h e C o l u m b i a / W i l l a m e t t e ,

Inc. ("PPCW"), a plaintiff i n this action. I submit this declaration on b e h a l f o f P P C W i n support o f plaintiffs , motion for a preliminary injunction to enjoin the State from enforcing ORS 167.051 through 167.057 (the "Statute") an unconstitutional censorship statute which will apply to institutions, such as PPCW, who provide sexuality education programs. 2. PPCW is the largest non-profit family planning and reproductive rights

organization i n Oregon. Since 1963, P P C W has been committed to delivering the highest quality health care, teaching responsible and age-appropriate sexuality education, and protecting a woman's right to choose. I t seeks to expand access to sexual and reproductive health care i n Oregon and Southwest Washington b y promoting a wide range o f services to a diverse p o p u l a t i o n , assuring the a v a i l a b i l i t y o f c o m p r e h e n s i v e s e x u a l i t y education, r a i s i n g p u b l i c awareness o f s e x u a l and r e p r o d u c t i v e h e a l t h c a r e issues, and r e d u c i n g u n i n t e n d e d p r e g n a n c y and b i r t h s , e s p e c i a l l y a m o n g y o u n g people. T o a d d r e s s t h o s e i s s u e s , P P C W p r o v i d e s a b r o a d r a n g e o f sexual and reproductive health care, family planning and other medical services; trains and e d u c a t e s p e o p l e o n i s s u e s o f sexuality; a n d a d v o c a t e s for t h e p r o t e c t i o n o f r e p r o d u c t i v e r i g h t s and freedom i n Oregon and Southwest Washington. Its team o f trained educators provides sexuality education programs to nearly 10,000 youth and their parents annually i n Portland, Salem and Bend, with the goal o f providing young people with the tools that they need to make informed, responsible choices. Toward that end, PPCW reaches out to young people through teen peer education programs, development sessions for high-risk youth, educational presentations to schools and community groups, and professional training for youth service providers. P P C W ' s youth programs have various target audiences, some as young as ten years

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old. As a part o f that program and other sexuality education efforts, P P C W distributes materials including descriptions o r depictions o f sexual behavior. F e a r o f P r o s e c u t i o n U n d e r t h e Statute 3. P P C W fears that its agents, employees, and volunteers m a y b e at risk o f criminal

prosecution under the Statute for permitting minors to access constitutionally protected material which could be deemed "sexually explicit" o r to appeal to a p e r s o n ' s "sexual desires" under the meaning o f the Statute. 4. Under ORS 167.054, it is a crime to "intentionally furnish" o r "intentionally

permit" anyone under the age o f 13 to view "sexually explicit material" i f the accused "knows that the material is sexually explicit material." ORS 167.054(1). Such material includes material c o n t a i n i n g v i s u a l i m a g e s - i n c l u d i n g p a i n t i n g s and d r a w i n g s - o f m a s t u r b a t i o n , i n t e r c o u r s e o r genital/oral/anal contact between people and animals. See ORS 167.051(5). I t could b e interpreted to include materials used b y PPCW. "[F]urnish" is defined broadly, including "to sell, give, rent, loan or otherwise provide." See ORS 167.051(2). 5. ORS 167.054 provides two exceptions to prosecution. First, under ORS

167.054(2)(a), c e r t a i n p e r s o n s , i n c l u d i n g e m p l o y e e s o f m u s e u m s , schools, m e d i c a l t r e a t m e n t providers, or public libraries, may not b e prosecuted. I n some circumstances, P P C W does not fall into that exception. Second, under ORS 167.054(2)(b), P P C W would not b e liable i f the sexually explicit portions o f the material furnished, or permitted to be viewed, "form merely an i n c i d e n t a l p a r t o f a n o t h e r w i s e n o n o f f e n d i n g w h o l e and s e r v e s o m e p u r p o s e o t h e r t h a n titillation." I believe that exception is vague. I have no w a y o f knowing, and do not understand, what specific material qualifies for that exception.

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6.

I understand that, under ORS 167.054(3)(a), an affirmative defense exists for a

c r i m i n a l d e f e n d a n t w h o c a n p r o v e t h a t t h e m a t e r i a l w a s furnished " s o l e l y for t h e p u r p o s e o f s e x education." P P C W m a y b e able to assert that defense. However, asserting that defense does not g u a r a n t e e P P C W i m m u n i t y f r o m p r o s e c u t i o n o r a s u c c e s s f u l d e f e n s e to p r o s e c u t i o n . I n a d d i t i o n , even i f P P C W were able to assert the defense successfully, the defense would not exempt P P C W f r o m t h e e x p e n s e , i n c o n v e n i e n c e , a n d s t i g m a o f a c r i m i n a l p r o s e c u t i o n . T h e r e f o r e , the a v a i l a b i l i t y o f t h e a f f i r m a t i v e d e f e n s e does n o t r e m o v e t h e c h i l l i n g e f f e c t t h a t t h e S t a t u t e h a s o n P P C W ' s c o n s t i t u t i o n a l l y p r o t e c t e d activities. 7. Under ORS 167.057, i t is a crime to disseminate to anyone under the age o f 18 a

" v i s u a l r e p r e s e n t a t i o n o r e x p l i c i t verbal d e s c r i p t i o n o r n a r r a t i v e a c c o u n t o f s e x u a l c o n d u c t " for t h e p u r p o s e o f " a r o u s i n g o r s a t i s f y i n g t h e s e x u a l desires o f t h e p e r s o n o r t h e m i n o r . . . " I understand that is a v e r y broad provision encompassing material with textual descriptions, as well as visual depictions. I t could b e interpreted to include materials used b y PPCW. I also believe that statute is vague because the phrase "arousing or satisfying the sexual desires" is o p e n to a wide variety o f interpretations. ORS 167.057 is also vague because i t contains the s a m e u n d e f i n e d a n d v a g u e " i n c i d e n t a l p a r t " e x c e p t i o n c o n t a i n e d i n O R S 167.054. 8. U n d e r O R S 167.057, f u r n i s h i n g a 1 7 - y e a r - o l d m i n o r w i t h p r o h i b i t e d m a t e r i a l s is a

c r i m e i f t h e m a t e r i a l is f u r n i s h e d f o r t h e p u r p o s e o f s a t i s f y i n g t h e s e x u a l d e s i r e o f t h e 1 7 - y e a r old. A s described above, some materials that P P C W provides contain sexually related content t h a t m a y b e s e x u a l l y a r o u s i n g t o s o m e teenagers. U n d e r ORS 167.057, t h e r e f o r e , P P C W w o u l d b e committing a felony i f a 17-year-old obtained materials from P P C W to satisfy his o r her sexual desire o r to become sexually aroused while reading those materials.

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12.

For all the reasons stated above, P P C W fears prosecution under the Statute and

r e q u e s t s t h a t s u c h p r o s e c u t i o n b e enjoined. I declare under penalty o f peIjury that the foregoing is true and correct. DATED: A p r i l

Jh 2008.

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EXHIBIT A R u t h B e l l ~ C h a n g i n g B o d i e s ~ C h a n g i n g L i v e s ( T h r e e R i v e r s Press~ 1998) W e n d y Caster~ T h e L e s b i a n S e x B o o k ( A l y s o n B o o k s ~ 1 9 9 3 ) R o b i e H.
Harris~

I t ' s N o t T h e Stork (Candlewick P r e s s 2006)

Robie H. Harris, I t ' s Perfectly Normal (Candlewick Press 1994) P e t e r M a y l e , W h a t ' s H a p p e n i n g t o M e ? (Carol P u b l i s h i n g G r o u p , 1989 e d i t i o n ) P e t e r M a y l e , W h e r e D i d I C o m e F r o m ? ( C a r o l P u b l i s h i n g G r o u p , 1977) Dr. Charles Silverstein, T h e N e w Joy o f Gay Sex (Harper Perennial, 1993) Pamela M Wilson, MSW, When Sex is The Subject: Attitudes and Answers for Young Children ( E T R A s s o c i a t e s , 1991)

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