Colorado Booksellers' Efforts Result in Defeat of Censorship Bill

In response to strong opposition by booksellers and other supporters of First Amendment rights, the Colorado legislature has killed a bill banning the sale to minors of works that are "harmful" to minors because of their sexual content.

In February, Matt Miller, general manager of Denver's Tattered Cover Book Store, and Lisa Knudsen, executive director of the Mountains and Plains Independent Booksellers Association, told the Colorado Senate Judiciary Committee that Senate Bill 125 would have a chilling effect on the sale of books and magazines that are protected by the First Amendment. The legislation was subsequently approved in committee, but was amended on the Senate floor and sent to a second committee where it died.

The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) worked closely with Colorado booksellers in opposing S.B. 125.

"Booksellers played a critical role in the defeat of S.B. 125," said ABFFE President Chris Finan in a statement. "While the sponsors tried to paint it as protecting minors from pornography, the booksellers made it clear that the law would affect books and magazines with serious literary, artistic, and political value."

"We were very happy to hear that the 'Harmful to Minors' bill was defeated in the Colorado Senate Appropriations Committee," Miller told BTW. "It again proves to me the value and importance of groups like ABFFE in being ever vigilant of threats to our First Amendment rights. I appreciate the help we received from Chris Finan at ABFFE in providing the necessary resources to help fight this case."

The booksellers also received strong editorial support from Denver's Rocky Mountain News.

Other groups opposing S.B. 125 were the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado, the Colorado Library Association, Equal Rights Colorado, Colorado Organizations Responding to AIDS, Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, the Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault, the Colorado Academy of Family Physicians, and the Colorado Association of Family and Children's Agencies.