Arkansas 'Harmful to Minors' Law Declared Unconstitutional

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A federal judge struck down a state law Wednesday that barred any public venue from shelving material that could be considered “harmful to minors,” declaring the law overbroad and a form of unconstitutional prior restraint.

The ruling, which was an important victory for adult stores as well as mainstream bookstores that stock items that may contain sexually oriented passages, said that Arkansas’s Act 858 violated both the First and Fourteenth Amendments.

The act, set to go into effect at the end of June 2003, amended state law to “require material harmful to minors to be obstructed from view and segregated in commercial establishments and for other purposes.”

While the original code only required venues that stocked material deemed “harmful to minors” in racks with opaque covers that obscured their view, the amended law required complete segregation of materials that may contain “harmful” passages, even if their covers or bindings were not expressly so.

The coalition of plaintiffs in the lawsuit, including members of the Arkansas Library Association, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and the American Civil Liberties Union, alleged that the law would require them to have an impossible knowledge of each item in the store and spend money building expensive partitions or face closing their doors to people under the age of 18.

“Libraries have been challenged in the past for circulating classic works by authors like Judy Blume, John Steinbeck and J.D. Salinger,” Arkansas Library Association President Dwain Gordon told the court. “I [also] understand that material depicting one or more nude female breasts can be considered ‘harmful to minors’ under the Arkansas law.”

“While none of these titles are generally shelved in children’s sections, if I understand the law correctly, ALA members will violate the law if they shelve these books in areas that minors could access,” said Gordon. “One might even worry that librarians will have to remove or restrict access to the nude statue of Icarus and Daedalus that decorates the main branch of the [Central Arkansas Library System].”

According to both U.S. District Court Judge G. Thomas Eisele, Arkansas’ new code would be overbroad because it not only linked the acts of displaying material, a “mass act” which could merely include having it on a shelf, and actually selling it, which involves a single, one-on-one interaction.

The Arkansas Supreme Court, in answer to several questions made by Eisele, also found problems with the law’s assumption that material that would be inappropriate for a 5-year-old would also be inappropriate for a 17-year-old.

“If the younger minors are to be protected from ‘harmful’ materials, surely the General Assembly did not intend for those younger children to be permitted to access materials that would arguably be ‘harmful’ to them, even though not ‘harmful’ to an older child,” wrote Supreme Court Associate Justice Tom Glaze in its majority opinion. “We cannot construe Arkansas’ statutory law in such a way as to render it meaningless, and we will not interpret a statute to yield absurd results that are contrary to legislative intent.”

Spokespeople for the Arkansas Attorney General’s office told media Wednesday that the ruling should not be heralded as a huge victory.

“It will be up to the individual prosecutors as to how they choose to enforce the law,” Matt DeCample told the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, noting that when one clause of a law is struck down, the other clauses are usually still enforceable.

Copyright © 2025 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More News

Electric Novelties Debuts New 'Gemsations' Anal Plug Collection

Electric Novelties has introduced its Gemsations line of anal plugs in silicone and metal options.

FSC Publishes Analysis of Federal Trade Commission Event Promoting AV

Free Speech Coalition (FSC) has published an analysis of a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) event held this week that promoted age verification among other forms of speech regulation.

Adam & Eve Reveals Results of 'Happy Ending Dream' Survey

Adam & Eve has released the results of a survey asking respondents if they have ever had a sex dream with a happy ending.

GirlsDoPorn Owner Michael Pratt Pleads Guilty to Sex Trafficking

Michael Pratt, former owner of the rogue website GirlsDoPorn, pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California on Thursday to sex trafficking and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking charges, according to a report by City News Service.

Kheper Releases New 'Drink if... Taboo Version' Party Game

Kheper Games has released its new "Drink if… Taboo Version" party game.

Federal Judge Grants Partial Halt of Florida AV Law

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida, Tallahassee Division, has granted a preliminary injunction against HB 3, the state's age verification law, as a lawsuit filed by two online trade associations challenging the law makes its way through the courts.

Aneros Debuts 'Eupho Syn V' From 'Vibration Collection'

Aneros has introduced the Eupho Syn V from its Vibration Collection.

Wells Apparel Group Inks Distro Deal With Kix'ies

Wells Apparel Group has signed a deal with Kix’ies, Inc. for distribution throughout 13 states.

Ohdoki Debuts 2 New Strokers

Ohdoki has introduced two new stroker sleeves.

Aylo Releases Statement on Suspending Access to Pornhub in France

Technology and media company Aylo, which operates adult sites including Pornhub, YouPorn, and Redtube, has released a public statement regarding its decision to block access to its sites in France.

Show More