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

Filing 11

Declaration of Candace Morgan. Filed by all plaintiffs. (eo)

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

Doc. 11

P.K. Runkles-Pearson, OSB No. 061911 [e-mail] S T O E L RIVES L L P 900 S W F i f t h A v e n u e , Suite 2 6 0 0 Portland, O R 97204 Telephone: (503) 2 2 4 - 3 3 8 0 F a c s i m i l e : (503) 2 2 0 - 2 4 8 0 Michael A. Bamberger [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 the Americas, 2 4 t h Floor N e w York, N Y 10020 Telephone: ( 2 1 2 ) 7 6 8 - 6 7 0 0 . Facsimile: ( 2 1 2 ) 3 9 1 - 1 2 4 7 Attorneys for Plaintiffs

U N I T E D STATES D I S T R I C T C O U R T D I S T R I C T OF O R E G O N

P O W E L L ' S BOOKS, INC., et aI., Plaintiffs,

C i v i l No.

CV '08 - 0 50 1 -no
DECLARATION OF CANDACE MORGAN

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 a s A T T O R N E Y G E N E R A L OF T H E S T A T E O F OREGON, et al., Defendants.

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D E C L A R A T I O N O F CANDACE MORGAN

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Dockets.Justia.com

I, CANDACE MORGAN, certify and declare as follows: Background

1.

I a m a p l a i n t i f f i n this action. I s u b m i t this d e c l a r a t i o n i n s u p p o r t o f p l a i n t i f f s '

motion for a preliminary injunction to enjoin the State from enforcing O R S 167.051 to 167.057 ( t h e " S t a t u t e " ) a n u n c o n s t i t u t i o n a l c e n s o r s h i p statute.

2.

I am a resident o f M u l t n o m a h County. I teach current and future librarians

enrolled in the Oregon distance-learning cohort o f the Emporia State University School o f L i b r a r y a n d I n f o r m a t i o n S c i e n c e . I a m a l s o a g r a n d p a r e n t o f a s e v e n - y e a r - o l d boy, f o r w h o m I provide care two afternoons a week. One o f o u r regular activities is visiting t h e library together.

In addition, I sometimes go to the bookstore with h i m to help h i m select books t o purchase with
gift certificates h e receives. T h e S t a t u t e r e s t r i c t s t h e m a t e r i a l s t h a t I c a n p r o v i d e t o m y g r a n d s o n a n d p r e s e n t s t h e t h r e a t t h a t I w i l l b e p r o s e c u t e d i n p r o v i d e m a t e r i a l s t h a t v i o l a t e t h e Statute. 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.

I fear t h a t I m a y b e a t r i s k o f c r i m i n a l p r o s e c u t i o n u n d e r t h e S t a t u t e f o r p e r m i t t i n g

minors to access constitutionally protected material which could be d e e m e d " s e x u a l l y explicit" o r to appeal to a p e r s o n ' s "sexual desires" u n d e r the meaning o f t h e Statute. 4. U n d e r ORS 167.054, it is a crime to "intentionally furnish" or "intentionally

permit" anyone under the age o f 13 to view "sexually explicit material" i f the accused "knows t h a t t h e m a t e r i a l i s s e x u a l l y e x p l i c i t m a t e r i a l . " O R S 167.054(1). S u c h m a t e r i a l i n c l u d e s m a t e r i a l containing visual i m a g e s - i n c l u d i n g paintings a n d d r a w i n g s - o f masturbation, intercourse o r genital/oral/anal contact between people and animals. See ORS 167.051(5). It c o u l d be i n t e r p r e t e d t o i n c l u d e m a t e r i a l s t h a t I m i g h t g i v e t o m y g r a n d s o n o r m a t e r i a l s h e m i g h t use o r

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purchase while under my supervision at the library o r bookstore. "[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

1 6 7 . 0 5 4 ( 2 ) ( a ) , c e r t a i n persons, 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 , s c h o o l s , m e d i c a l t r e a t m e n t p r o v i d e r s , o r p u b l i c libraries, m a y n o t b e p r o s e c u t e d . A l t h o u g h I h a v e a b a c k g r o u n d i n l i b r a r y science, I would not fall under that exception when giving materials to m y grandson i n a nonprofessional capacity. Second, under ORS 167 .054(2)(b), I w o u l d n o t be liable i f the sexually explicit portions o f the material furnished, o r permitted to b e viewed, "form merely a n incidental 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 a n d 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 way o f knowing, and do not understand, w h a t s p e c i f i c m a t e r i a l q u a l i f i e s for t h a t e x c e p t i o n . 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 f u r n i s h e d " s o l e l y for t h e p u r p o s e o f s e x e d u c a t i o n . " I m a y b e a b l e t o a s s e r t t h a t d e f e n s e , d e p e n d i n g o n t h e m a t e r i a l I c h o s e t o give m y grandson. H o w e v e r , a s s e r t i n g t h a t d e f e n s e w o u l d n o t g u a r a n t e e m e i m m u n i t y from p r o s e c u t i o n o r a successful defense to prosecution. I n addition, even i f I were able to assert the defense s u c c e s s f u l l y , the d e f e n s e w o u l d n o t e x e m p t m e from 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 prosecution. 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 chilling effect that the Statute has o n m y constitutionally protected activities. 7. Under ORS 167.057, it 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 v e r b a l 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 the 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 the s e x u a l desires o f the p e r s o n o r the m i n o r . . . " I understand that is a very broad provision encompassing material with textual descriptions, as

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well as visual depictions. I t could b e interpreted to include materials t h a t I might give to my grandchild. I also believe that statute is vague because the phrase "arousing o r satisfying the sexual desires" is open to a wide variety o f interpretations. ORS 167.057 is also vague because it contains the same undefined and vague "incidental part" exception contained in ORS 167.054. 8. Under ORS 167.057, furnishing a minor with prohibited materials is a crime i f the

material is furnished for the purpose o f satisfying the sexual desire o f the minor. As described above, some materials that I might provide to m y grandson might contain sexually related content that he might find sexually arousing. U n d e r ORS 167.057, therefore, I would b e c o m m i t t i n g a f e l o n y i f m y g r a n d s o n o b t a i n e d m a t e r i a l s from m e o r w h i l e v i s i t i n g the l i b r a r y o r bookstore with m e to satisfy his sexual desire o r to become sexually aroused while reading those materials. 9. Two examples o f materials might violate the Statute are the books "It's So

Amazing" and "It's Perfectly Normal" b y Robie H. Harris. These are both books that I have considered providing to m y grandson. They contain candid, straightforward information about h u m a n s e x u a l i t y , i n c l u d i n g d r a w i n g s o f u n c o v e r e d female b r e a s t s a n d m a l e a n d f e m a l e g e n i t a l i a ( i n c l u d i n g erect penises), a b o y masturbating, a m a n w e a r i n g a c o n d o m a n d n a k e d p e o p l e i n b e d t o g e t h e r , d e s c r i p t i o n s o f s e x u a l i n t e r c o u r s e a n d d i s c u s s i o n s o f h o m o s e x u a l i t y . "It's S o A m a z i n g " is recommended for children aged seven and older. "It's Perfectly Normal" is for kids 10 and older. I t is impossible to tell, given the vagueness o f the statute, whether those materials "serve s o m e p u r p o s e o t h e r t h a n t i t i l l a t i o n " o r w h e t h e r they " f o r m m e r e l y a n i n c i d e n t a l p a r t o f a n otherwise nonoffending whole." I believe that there is truly no way for me t o ensure compliance with the Statute. M y best effort at complying would be to refrain from using a n y materials around m y grandson - o r even refraining from taking him to the library o r bookstore - i f I even

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suspected that the materials he would encounter might b e objectionable to some unknown third party. Doing that would certainly hamper my own right to use constitutionally protected materials! a n d m y r i g h t t o s h a r e t h o s e m a t e r i a l s w i t h m y g r a n d s o n . 10.

In short, i f the Statute is not enjoined, then I will be forced to either risk criminal

liability or to selfˇcensor any materials that I use o r share. 11. For all the reasons stated above, I fear prosecution under the Statute and request

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 a n d correct. DATED: April 22, 2008.

Candace M o r g a , ;

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