Comic Books a Children’s Interest?
Public defender John Spurling needed to ask a judge if comic books count as a children’s interest in arguing against a vague condition for a 36 year old man who pleaded guilty to sexting a teen.
Michael Anthony Nielsen must follow several special conditions that are tied to his probation. These include that he must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, he has to stay 100 yards away from an area where children congregate, he is prohibited from living within a quarter mile of any elementary school, he is subject to search and seizure at any time by law officials and he can’t possess materials related to children’s interests.
His lawyer Spurling felt that last condition was a bit too vague stating:
“I think I noted my objection to (the conditions),” Spurling said outside of the courtroom. “I’m not sure how people are expected to comply with probation terms when they are rather on the vague side.”
“So if you possess comic books, are you in violation of probation?” Nielsen asked.
I’m going to speak for the rest of the comic community to say yes, just so this creep isn’t found in one our stores….
I was with you up until the end:
“I’m going to speak for the rest of the comic community to say yes, just so this creep isn’t found in one our stores….”
Tell me you’re kidding. Tell me you just said that, didn’t really think it through.
The last thing that comics need is to legally defined as a child’s interest with all the attendant censorship, and then have people be legally barred from reading it (which will also mean that comics are barred in prison).
I mean, haven’t you caught anything the CBLDF has said in twenty years?
Yes, I was definitely kidding. I guess the joke fell flat.
I’d argue with anyone and could show quite a few examples to disprove that comics are just for kids. Showing the adult themes, plots and references that make up a lot of the comic books we love is a reason this blog started.