Fucks you in a bad way
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By
Bill Andriette
"Pandering
obscenity" is easy in Ohio. Starting this January, taking the
punishment has become much harder. Blame Senate Bill 10, which
Governor Ted Strickland (D.) signed into law June 30, 2007; it
brands "panderers" as registerable sex offenders.
Anyone who buys, sells, or
rents a porn video in the Buckeye state is now at risk. "Pandering"
is a favorite charge in local vice indictments. Larry Flynt has been
hit with it twice in Ohio. In 1998 he got cited for selling Jeff
Stryker's Underground.
B
ut you don't
have to be as deep in porn as the Hustler magnate to face a
pandering rap. It could be enough, say, to put up posters for a
stripper show that authorities decide later is too racy. It could be
enough to let teenage cousins watch a French film.
Dealing only in the
works of recognized artists (excluding porn stars) offers no safety,
either. Ohioans have been charged with pandering obscenity for
selling or displaying works by Pedro Almodovoar, Pier Paolo
Pasolini, and Robert Mapplethorpe. At a video store, the checkout
clerk is likely to get prosecuted along with managers and owners. In
2001, 22-year-old Brian Dalton of Columbus got sent up for pandering
just for writing in his own private journal.
Normally, convicted
panderers face up to a year in prison and fines. But as of 2008,
they are made to register for 15 years as "tier-one"
sex-offenders. Ohio bars sex-offenders from living in large swathes
of the state's towns and cities, because their dwellings must be
no less than 1000 feet from any school or daycare facility. (Towns
and cities are free to impose more onerous restrictions.)
Tier-one offenders
must report annually to the police to be photographed. The Ohio
attorney general posts a sex-offender's mug shot, name, address,
place of work if any, make of car, and usual parking spot on its
registry website. Threats and harassment, anyone?
Quick and dirty
Ohio is among the first
states to revamp its registry to comply with federal standards set
by the Adam Walsh Act, a vast and draconian sex-crimes package
Congress passed in 2006. The benchmarks are supposedly voluntary,
but states can lose certain federal funds if not in compliance by
2009. And what state legislator needs an excuse to finally get tough
on sex-offenders?
"[Senate Bill 10] is the
most stupid and self-evidently unconstitutional law that they passed
last year, which is saying something," contends Jeff Gamso, legal
director of the Ohio ACLU. "Even many of the most conservative
law-and-order, anti-sex-offender, lock-everyone-up, and
by-the-way-it-would-be-good-to-just-execute-them types were wary of
this law. A lot of them knew this violated the Ohio constitution."
If Ohio is a guide -- as
it has been -- other states will add obscenity crimes to the list
of registerable sex offenses as they expand their registries to
comply with the new federal rules.
"Registration is bigger
than the scarlet A," says Cincinnati attorney H. Louis Sirkin, who
has defended both Flynt and the Mapplethorpe photos, "I just think
it's cruel and unusual punishment." But more than that, Sirkin
goes on, when registration is made a penalty for crimes of
expression, "it creates a prior restraint and a chilling effect."
Fear of a pandering charge already limits what books and movies
Ohioans can see. "[To] add onto that the potential of
registration," says Sirken, "I just think is unbelievable."
***
Ohioans fight back
against repressive sex laws -- check out and support the ACLU
of Ohio (216-472-2200;
Aclu ohio.org
), Ohio Justice &
Policy Center (513-421-1108;
Ohiojpc.org
). Ohio Office of the
Public Defender (614-466-5394;
Opd.ohio.gov
) has info on the
latest law revisions.
Soclear.org
works to organize people affected by
sex-offender registries.
| Author Profile: Bill Andriette |
| Bill Andriette is features editor of
The Guide |
| Email: |
theguide@guidemag.com |
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