Bookseller Testifies Against Bill Authorizing Civil Suits

Last week, Tom Lowenburg of New Orleans' Octavia Books testified against a Louisiana Senate Bill (S.B. 152) that would authorize civil suits against booksellers who are accused of selling a book that depicts nudity to a minor. The bill was, in effect, defeated on Thursday, June 18, when the state's Committee on Commerce voted 12 - 2 to involuntarily defer action after the attorney general reported that enforcing the law could cost the state up to $1.6 million. But American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) President Chris Finan warned that the Louisiana bill was part of a disturbing new trend in censorship legislation. Earlier this year, the Utah legislature passed a bill similar to S.B. 152, which was later vetoed by the governor.

"These laws are extremely dangerous," said Finan. "Private individuals and groups could bring legal action to pressure retailers to stop selling legal works that they consider offensive or harmful. The legislators are trying to make an end-run around the First Amendment."

Louisiana's S.B. 152 would have authorized a civil suit even if the book sold did not meet the legal definitions of "obscenity" or material "harmful to minors," and even if it were written for minors. The bill also required that an attorney general send a warning letter to the retailer whenever a complaint was received alleging that such a sale had occurred. After five complaints had been received, a private citizen or the attorney general could then sue.

"This bill would make our job hell," Lowenburg testified on June 18. "It makes individuals mini-police in enforcing content."

This week, Lowenburg told BTW, "We were able to defeat a very bad bill, which would have made our role of providing a diversity of books to the public very difficult to carry out. A bill that was parading as a family values bill, in effect, would have been anything but."

Appearing before the commerce committee, Lowenburg offered a show-and-tell of books that could be affected by S.B. 152. "I had books ranging from a guidebook to Louisiana that had statuary in a museum sculpture garden... to the American Girl book [The Care & Keeping of You: The Body Book for Girls, American Girl Publishing]," he said. "I showed them that all kinds of books could trigger a challenge, and said it would be impossible to determine what we could carry. Someone could challenge us on almost anything."

In addition to his relief that the legislation was killed in Louisiana, Lowenburg said he was happy that the bill wouldn't serve as a precedent for other states. "It really could not have had a more satisfactory ending," he said.

Other New Orleans booksellers who worked towards defeating the bill include Judith Lafitte, Lowenburg's wife and Octavia co-owner, and Britton Trice, owner of Garden District Book Shop. --Karen Schechner