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Committee advances bill to toughen obscenity penalties Wednesday, Feb 28, 2007 By John Lyon Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - A bill to increase the maximum penalty for certain violations of Arkansas' obscenity laws received the endorsement of the House Judiciary Committee Tuesday. Under House Bill 1569 by Rep. Shirley Walters, R-Greenwood, a defendant convicted of violating state obscenity laws could be fined up to $250,000 if the defendant derived pecuniary gain from the offense. Sebastian County Prosecutor Gunner DeLay testified that the opening of adult-oriented chain stores in Sebastian and Johnson counties has prompted prosecutors to push for tougher penalties for obscenity violations. Three employees of X-Mart Adult Supercenter in Clarksville were arrested recently on obscenity complaints. DeLay said the store is part of a Florida-based chain that also owns a store in Fort Smith. "The problem is that right now, if we go after the corporation, we can only hit them with a fine of $15,000. And folks, for a corporation that's making millions and millions of dollars off of the sale of obscenity, that's not much of a penalty," DeLay said. DeLay named several other offenses that carry a maximum $250,000 fine, including knowingly or recklessly releasing a hazardous substance into the environment, making a bootleg copy of a movie and participating in an attempt to perform human cloning. "As I look at all of these, I think the common theme is that these are not crimes where the victim is an individual but our society and our community at large. We have the same situation when you're talking about selling obscene material, that the victim of that crime really is the community," he said. No arrests have been made at X-Mart's Fort Smith store, but the store has been the subject of numerous complaints from the public, DeLay said in an interview. The chain's attorney, Gary Edinger of Gainesville, Fla., said in a phone interview that it is not up to prosecutors to say what is obscene. "Materials are not obscene in this country until a jury says they are," he said. Arkansas law defines "obscene material" as material that, taken as a whole, appeals to prurient interests, applying contemporary community standards. The definition is taken from a U.S. Supreme Court ruling and has been adopted by states across the country, Edinger said. He said that means jurors in an obscenity case have to decide what is and is not obscene according to the standards of a particular community. "My understanding is the store stays well on the right side of the line," he said. DeLay said the Arkansas Prosecuting Attorneys Association and law enforcement officials in Sebastian County support Walters' bill. No one testified against the bill. The measure advances to the full House. |
