Monday November 24 5:07 PM EST
Tennessee Indicts Bookstore For Obscenity
FRANKLIN, Tenn. (Reuters) - The Barnes & Noble bookstore chain vowed
Monday to defend itself in a Tennessee court
against an obscenity indictment for displaying three books that
feature photographs of nudes.
A Williamson County grand jury in this Nashville suburb recently
handed down indictments against the local Barnes & Noble
store, charging it with "improperly displaying material harmful to
minors," District Attorney Joseph Baugh said.
"If you have certain kinds of material, it has to be displayed at a
certain height, with a binder in front of it (and) a piece of
opaque material covering the erogenous zones," Baugh said.
The maximum penalty faced by a corporate defendant for the misdemeanor
crime would be a $50 fine, Baugh said. There
could also be an injunction requiring changes in the book display. A
trial could begin at the start of next year.
"We believe the charges ... are without merit. We intend to plead not
guilty," New York-based Barnes & Noble Inc. said in a
statement, citing the constitutional right to free speech.
Two of the three large-format "coffee table" books are by Jock
Sturges, whose work includes controversial photographs of
nude children.
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