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

Filing 4

Declaration of Jessica L. Lloyd-Rogers. Filed by all plaintiffs. (eo)

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

Doc. 4

P.K. Runkles-Pearson, OSB No. 061911 [e-mail] S T O E l RIVES l l P 900 S W Fifth Avenue, Suite 2600 Portland, O R 9 7 2 0 4 T e l e p h o n e : (503) 2 2 4 - 3 3 8 0 Facsimile: (503) 2 2 0 - 2 4 8 0 Michael A. Bamberger [e-mail] Rachel G. Balaban [e-mail] SONNENSCHEIN NATH & ROSENTHAL LLP 1221 Avenue o f the Americas, 24th Floor New York, NY 10020 T e l e p h o n e : (212) 7 6 8 - 6 7 0 0 F a c s i m i l e : (212) 7 6 8 - 6 8 0 0 A t t o r n e y s f o r Plaintiffs

U N I T E D STATES DISTRICT C O U R T D I S T R I C T OF O R E G O N POWELL'S BOOKS, INC., e t aI., Plaintiffs, Civil No. DECLARATION OF JESSICA L. LLOYD-ROGERS

CV'08-050 1 - MO

v.
HARDY MYERS, in his official capacity as A T T O R N E Y G E N E R A L OF T H E STATE OF OREGON, e t al., Defendants.

Dockets.Justia.com

DECLARATION OF J E S S I C A L. LLOYD-ROGERS Jessica L. Lloyd-Rogers declares under penalties o f perjury: Background 1. I am the co-owner, with Jerry J. Schneider, o f Colette's: Good Food +

Hungry Minds, LLC ("Colette's"), a plaintiff in this action. I submit this declaration on behalf o f Colette's in support o f plaintiffs' motion f o r a preliminary injunction to enjoin the State from enforcing ORS 167.051 t o 167.057 (collectively referred t o as the "Statute"), an unconstitutional censorship law which will apply t o mainstream book s t o r e s such a s Colette's. 2. Colette's was s e t up with the explicit mission o f being a First Amendment

bookstore and cafe. Both owners are voracious readers and have journalistic and writing backgrounds. I s p e n t thirty years as an investigative journalist. W e strongly believe in the freedom o f expression and the right t o read, view and listen t o the expressions o f others. Colette's has been in existence since November, 2007 with one location (2,156 sq. ft.) currently open and plans t o open another location (1,000 sq. ft.) b y June, 2008. In t h a t short time, w e have come t o serve a s a community place for activists of all stripes, book groups, social change organizations and others w h o hold fast to, and believe in, the protections o f the First Amendment. 3. W e c u r r e n t l y l i s t o u r i n v e n t o r y o n - l i n e a n d p l a n t o s e l l o n - l i n e from o u r

own website. W e have 125,000 volumes (with fewer than 200 repeat titles) a t the current t i m e with plans t o add magazines by July, 2008. W e specialize in non-fiction including photography and a r t books and also have a wide variety o f fiction inclUding bestsellers. W e anticipate carrying magazines including Hot Rod, Sports Illustrated,
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National Geographic and Scientific American. In order t o serve our community better, w e have established a good-sized Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning (GLBTQ) section. Each o f these above described sections contain sexually explicit material and visual representations o r narrative accounts of sexual conduct a s those tenns are defined in the Statute. F e a r o f Prosecution U n d e r t h e Statute 4. Colette's fears that i t may b e a t risk o f criminal prosecution under the

S t a t u t e f o r p e n n i t t i n g minors t o a c c e s s o r p u r c h a s e constitutionally-protected m a t e r i a l a t o u r b o o k s t o r e , w h i c h could b e d e e m e d " s e x u a l l y e x p l i c i t " o r t o a p p e a l t o a p e r s o n ' s "sexual d e s i r e s " u n d e r t h e m e a n i n g o f t h e S t a t u t e . C o l e t t e ' s , h o w e v e r , d o e s n o t k n o w h o w t o d e t e n n i n e w h a t b o o k s m a y c r o s s t h e v a g u e lines e s t a b l i s h e d u n d e r t h e Statute. 5. U n d e r the Statute, it is a crime t o furnish "sexually explicit material" t o

a n y o n e u n d e r t h e a g e o f 1 3 i f t h e person " i n t e n t i o n a l l y f u r n i s h e s a child, o r intentionally permits a child t o view, sexually explicit material and the person 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 . " D R S 1 6 7 . 0 5 4 . Such m a t e r i a l i n c l u d e s t h a t w h i c h c o n t a i n s 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 masturbation, intercourse o r genital/oral/anal contact between people and animals. See D R S 167.051. "[F]urnish" is defined broadly, including t o "sell, give, rent, loan o r o t h e r w i s e p r o v i d e . " D R S 167.051.

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6.

There a r e two exceptions u n d e r ORS 167.054. First, certain 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 , schools, o r p u b l i c libraries, a r e n o t liable. C o l e t t e ' s d o e s not fall into this exception. Second, I understand t h a t Colette's would not b e liable if t h e sexually explicit portions o f t h e material furnished, o r permitted t o be viewed, ''form merely an incidental part o f an otherwise non-offending whole and serve some purpose o t h e r than titillation." I believe this exception is vague and d o not understand what specific material would fit under this exception. 7. Under O R S 167.057, it is a crime i f a person disseminates t o anyone

under t h e age o f 18 a ''visual representation o r explicit verbal description o r narrative a c c o u n t o f s e x u a l conduct" f o r t h e p u r p o s e o f "arousing o r 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 s o f t h e person o r the m i n o r. . . . " I understand this t o be v e r y broad encompassing material with textual description, as well as visual depictions. I also believe t h a t t h e p h r a s e "arousing o r satisfying t h e s e x u a l d e s i r e s , " w h i c h i s u n d e f i n e d u n d e r t h e Statute, is vague. In addition, it contains the s a m e undefined and vague "incidental part" e x c e p t i o n . 8. M y u n d e r s t a n d i n g i s t h a t u n d e r O R S 167.054, C o l e t t e ' s risks criminal

prosecution f o r furnishing constitutionally-protected materials described a b o v e t o persons "under 13 years o f age." Colette's d o e s not, unless there are extremely u n u s u a l c i r c u m s t a n c e s , "card" its c u s t o m e r s . W h i l e w e m a y f r o m t i m e t o t i m e s u g g e s t t o a y o u t h f u l c u s t o m e r t h a t a d e s i r e d p u r c h a s e m a y b e i n a p p r o p r i a t e , it w o u l d b e difficult, if n o t impossible, t o "card" o r determine w h e t h e r a child is under 13 years o f a g e a t o u r bookstore. 9. 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 s u c h m a t e r i a l i s -4-

a crime i f furnished for the purpose o f satisfying the sexual desire o f the 17-year-old. Again, determining whether a user is 17 with any accuracy is not feasible. In addition, as discussed herein, Colette's sells books and other materials containing sexuallyrelated content that may be sexually arousing, depending on the individual. Moreover, since we are, by nature o f being, individuals, the case may be made for the sale and purchase o f visibly innocuous materials that a given individual may find sexually arousing, for example, True Grime Stories o r The History o f High Heels. Under this section, Colette's would be committing a felony i f a 17-year-old purchased a book to satisfy his o r her sexual desire o r t o become sexually aroused while reading such a book - an act that individual has a right t o do. 10. Colette's has approximately 125,000 volumes in stock constituting

roughly 124,800 titles. W e receive on average more than 50 new titles per week. W e cannot read each new title to determine whether there are any sexually explicit portions and, i f so, whether such portions "serve some purpose other than titillation n

(even i f I knew what that meant in light o f the Statute). The list on Exhibit A contains j u s t a f e w e x a m p l e s o f t h e m u l t i t u d e o f books, m a g a z i n e s o r o t h e r m a t e r i a l sold at C o l e t t e ' s l i k e l y t o c o n t a i n s e x u a l l y - r e l a t e d n a r r a t i v e o r p i c t o r i a l c o n t e n t , i n c l u d i n g , in s o m e i n s t a n c e s , n u d i t y , t h a t c o u l d b e c o n s i d e r e d b y s o m e " s e x u a l l y e x p l i c i e o r "visual r e p r e s e n t a t i o n { s ) o r e x p l i c i t verbal d e s c r i p t i o n s ) o r n a r r a t i v e account{s) o f s e x u a l c o n d u c e t h a t m a y a p p e a l t o a p e r s o n ' s nsexual d e s i r e s . n I believe t h e only w a y f o r Colette's t o ensure compliance u n d e r t h e Statute would be t o e l i m i n a t e t h o s e m a t e r i a l s . D e v e l o p i n g a n a l t e r n a t i v e s e g r e g a t e d s h e l v i n g a r r a n g e m e n t a t o u r s t o r e f o r books t h a t m a y be covered u n d e r t h e Statute, i f m y s t a f f and I c o u l d e v e n d e t e r m i n e t h a t b o o k b y book, w h i c h I b e l i e v e w e c o u l d n o t

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without being e x t r e m e l y o v e r inclusive -

is a b s o l u t e l y impractical, unduly

burdensome and would consl.lTle an inordinate amount of time that we do not have. If forced to do so, we would have to cover up or rope off many sections in my store to insure that minors would not have access. This would b e extremely inconvenient to customers, would completely atter the ambience of the stores, and undoubtedly would have an adverse effect on sales. 11. In short, i f the Statute is not enjoined and Colette's must self censor

books, it will lose the profrts from the sale o f those books, and lose even more business because it will appear that the bookstore has an incomplete o r inadequate listing o f books in our inventory. Perhaps more importantly, adults and older teenagers will be impeded from access to constitutionally-protected materials. Conclusion 12. For all the reasons stated above, I fear prosecution under the Statute. If

the Statute is not enjoined, Colette's will be forced to either self censor our books and other material to a great degree or risk criminal liability. (The only reason we have not self censored to date is our strong belief in the First Amendment and we have been advised that the Statute is unconstitutional.)

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Exhibit A Alexie, Sherman, The Absolutely True Diary o f a Part· Time Indian Angelou, Maya, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Tibol, Raquel, ed., Frida by Frida Nobokov, Lolita McGuire, Gregory, WICked; Mirror, Mirror, Confessions o f an Ugly StepSister Westerns (Series) including Longarm, by Tabor Evans; Slocum, by Jake Logan; Head Hunter, by E.J. Hunter; The Gunsmith, by J.R. Roberts Kozinski, Jerzy, Birds Holleran, Andrew, Dancerfrom the Dance Salinger, J.D., Catcher in the Rye

Kama Sutra
Loulan, JoAnn, Lesbian Sex; Lesbian Passion; Loving Ourselves and Others, The Lesbian Erotic Dance West, Celeste, Lesbian Love Advisors Books o f Photography including those by Mapplethorpe Multiple books from the GLBTQ section Muttiple books from the Anthropology, Medical, (Sex, Human Reproduction), Setf Help sections Textbooks such as Human Sperm Competition: Copulation, Masturbation, and Infidelity

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