Wednesday is Comic Day!

I would define obscenity as the government attempting to ruin someone's life for being in possession of an imported Japanese comic book. That's what appears to be happening in the case of Christopher Handley, of Iowa. Mr. Handley ordered some manga comic books from Japan. The postal inspector intercepted the comic books and deemed them to be obscene. Authorities then searched Mr. Handley's home and seized his possessions. He is being charged with obscenity under the PROTECT Act (18 U.S.C. Section 1466A). The manga in question is of the Yaoi and lolicon subgenres. It is certainly intended for adult audiences, but is common in Japan and is quite simply simple inked line drawings.

It is absolutely bizarre to me that someone could go to jail for purchasing drawings. Fortunately there is an organization that specializes in defending the first amendment rights related to comic books. That organization is the CBLDF (Comic Book Legal Defense Fund). Usually they assist retailers and artists that have their rights infringed upon by overzealous government officials. This time they are assisting a comic book collector. The CBLDF has a press release concerning this case, here. Often when the government has one of these ridiculously flimsy cases they drag it out and end up punishing the individual through legal costs they incur. The CBLDF not only assists with those legal costs but has a staff of first amendment law experts and a database of expert witnesses. It is a really good cause. The freedom to read and to write whatever one wishes is paramount to a free and just society. If you are interested in donating to the CBLDF, please visit their donation site, here.