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By GEORGE BOWLES
Every once in a while a bill slithers through the General Assembly which, on its face, appears to be so clearly in the public interest that it attracts little attention from the press or from the citizenry. Yet, on closer examination, it can be seen to be loaded with mischief which far outweighs any good it might be intended to do.
Such is the case with House Bill 1546 which, incredibly, was passed unanimously by both houses of the 1985 legislature and has been duly signed into law by the governor.
The purpose of the measure was simple. It was designed to require merchants to keep their stocks of soft-core pornographic wares out of the reach and sight of juveniles who might come into their places of business. Most would agree it was a laudable objective.
For a decade it has been against the law to sell or loan such material to a juvenile, but the bill adds a clause to the existing law which could have a devastating impact reaching far beyond mere efforts to control access to girlie magazines.
Let us look at the measure as it emerged from the legislative mill and was signed into law.
“It shall be unlawful,” says the bill, “for any person knowingly to sell or loan to a juvenile, or to knowingly display for commercial purpose in a manner whereby juveniles may examine or peruse:
“1. — Any picture, photograph, drawing, sculpture, motion picture film or similar visual representation or image of a person or portion of the human body which depicts sexually nudity, sexual conduct or sadomasochistic abuse and which is harmful to juveniles, or
“2. — Any book, pamphlet, magazine, printed matter however reproduced or sound recording which contains any matter contained in paragraph 1 of this subsection, or explicit and detailed verbal descriptions or narrative accounts of sexual excitement, sexual conduct or sadomasochistic abuse and which, taken as a whole, is harmful to juveniles.”
The bill goes on to prohibit the sale of tickets to proscribed films or other shows. It spells out penalties both for violators of the law and for those juveniles who misrepresent their age in an effort to gain access to the forbidden material.
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