Free Expression

Final arguments in the case that will decide the constitutionality of the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) were heard on April 4 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. The legal challenge was brought by the American Library Association (ALA) -- together with 10 other plaintiffs -- and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) (whose own legal challenge to the law was consolidated by the court and heard together with ALA’s case). Indications are that the panel of three judges will rule by early May.

For two centuries, Charlottesville, Virginia, has drawn men and women of letters to live in its cultured environs: from Thomas Jefferson (whose Monticello is three miles east of the city) to current residents John Grisham, Rita Mae Brown, and National Book Award-winner John Casey. And for the past several years, Charlottesville's annual Virginia Festival of the Book has attracted thousands of visitors to a five-day menu of some 150 literary panels, talks, and readings staged in venues all around town.

Thirty booksellers will win the opportunity to visit with top New York authors during BookExpo America by entering the first ABFFE Author Auction. The online auction kicked off Wednesday, March 26, at 9:00 a.m. EST on the Web site of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE), www.abffe.com. The auction ends on Friday, March 29, at 3:00 p.m.

Bestselling authors Judy Blume, Pete Hamill, Roger Rosenblatt, and Paul Zelinsky have added their names to the list of authors who will participate in next week's online auction sponsored by the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE). The ABFFE Author Auction will give booksellers a chance to get to know 15 of their favorite authors, including Michael Moore, author of Stupid White Men ... and Other Sorry Excuses for the State of the Nation, which is now topping many bestseller lists.

Starting on Monday, March 25, in Philadelphia, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania will begin hearing a case that will decide the constitutionality of the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA). Monday’s trial will be the culmination of a legal challenge by the American Library Association (ALA) and 10 other plaintiffs -- including the Freedom to Read Foundation and a number of state library associations -- to CIPA. Last July, a three-judge federal district court ruled against the U.S.

Ohio Governor Bob Taft will sign House Bill 8 [H.B. 8], according to a number of sources close to the situation. The proposed legislation amends Ohio's sex offence law to include computer-based material that is deemed harmful to minors. This could include such things as sexually explicit content or movie violence. There is concern among booksellers that this could be construed to include material with sexual content sold on their Web sites. (For earlier coverage, click here).

Move over Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. The latest reunion news in rock ‘n’ roll is that BookExpo America’s house band is returning.

Filmmaker Michael Moore, author of the bestselling Stupid White Men, is joining novelist Barbara Kingsolver and distinguished journalist Nat Hentoff on the BEA panel "'911': Civil Liberties in a Time of Crisis," set for Friday, May 3, from 11:00 a.m. - 12:15 a.m. at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York City. The panel will examine the state of free speech in the U.S.

The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) spoke out in favor of the privacy of bookstore customer records in a February 26 hearing before the Maryland House Ways and Means Committee. State legislation was introduced earlier this month that would limit the circumstances in which police can seek search warrants or subpoenas for purchase records.