The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund has signed on as a special consultant
to the defense of Chistopher Handley, an Iowa collector who faces up to
20 years in prison for possession of manga. The Fund adds its First
Amendment expertise to the case, managed by United Defense Group's Eric
Chase, and will also be providing monetary support towards obtaining
expert witnesses.
Handley, 38, faces penalties under the PROTECT Act (18 U.S.C. Section
1466A) for allegedly possessing manga that the government claims to be
obscene. The government alleges that the material includes drawings
that they claim appear to be depictions of minors engaging in sexual
conduct. No photographic content is at issue in Handley's case.
"Handley's case is deeply troubling, because the government is
prosecuting a private collector for possession of art," says CBLDF
Executive Director Charles Brownstein. "In the past, CBLDF has had to
defend the First Amendment rights of retailers and artists, but never
before have we experienced the Federal Government attempting to strip a
citizen of his freedom because he owned comic books. We will bring our
best resources to bear in aiding Mr. Handley's counsel as they defend
his freedom and the First Amendment rights of every art-loving citizen
in this country."
Mr. Handley's case began in May 2006 when he received an express mail
package from Japan that contained seven Japanese comic books. That
package was intercepted by the Postal Inspector, who applied for a
search warrant after determining that the package contained cartoon
images of objectionable content. Unaware that his materials were
searched, Handley drove away from the post office and was followed by
various law enforcement officers, who pulled him over and followed him
to his home. Once there, agents from the Postal Inspector's office,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, Special Agents from the
Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, and officers from the Glenwood
Police Department seized Handley's collection of over 1,200 manga books
or publications; and hundreds of DVDs, VHS tapes, laser disks; seven
computers, and other documents. Though Handley's collection was
comprised of hundreds of comics covering a wide spectrum of manga, the
government is prosecuting images appearing in a small handful.
Putting the case into context, Burton Joseph, CBLDF's Legal Counsel
says, "In the lengthy time in which I have represented CBLDF and its
clients, I have never encountered a situation where criminal
prosecution was brought against a private consumer for possession of
material for personal use in his own home. This prosecution has
profound implications in limiting the First Amendment for art and
artists, and comics in particular, that are on the cutting edge of
creativity. It misunderstands the nature of avant-garde art in its
historical perspective and is a perversion of anti-obscenity laws."
Eric Chase and his team at the United Defense Group have been
vigorously defending Handley, and scored a major First Amendment
victory earlier this year when the judge found portions of the PROTECT
Act unconstitutional in his ruling on a motion to dismiss. District
Judge Gritzner of the Southern District of Iowa found that subsections
1466(a)(2) and (b)(2) of 18 U.S.C. 1466A unconstitutional. Those
sections make it a crime to knowingly produce, distribute, receive, or
possess with intent to distribute, "a visual depiction of any kind,
including a drawing, cartoon, sculpture, or painting," that "is, or
appears to be" a minor engaged in sexual conduct. Judge Gritzner found
that those sections restrict protected speech and are constitutionally
infirm.
Handley now faces charges under the surviving sections of 1466A, which
will require a jury to determine whether the drawings at issue are
legally obscene. The material cannot be deemed obscene unless it meets
all three of the criteria of the Miller test for obscenity: "(a)
whether the average person, applying contemporary community standards
would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient
interest; (b) whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently
offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable
state law; and (c) whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious
literary, artistic, political, or scientific value." The jury must
answer all three questions in the affirmative in order to convict.
Eric Chase recognized the importance of the case, and of the CBLDF's
contribution to it, in a statement to the CBLDF: "This case represents
the latest in a string of efforts by the Department of Justice to
encroach on free speech. The United Defense Group is committed to
fighting to maintain the protections guaranteed in the Constitution,
and we appreciate the CBLDF's support in this fight."
