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NEWS: Christopher Handley Sentenced to 6 Months for 'Obscene' Manga

Cait wrote:

I'm pretty sure that's directly related to the Judge's decision to not allow Handley to be charged for any books in his collection, as possession alone was deemed a violation of his First Amendment rights.

I'm surprised to discover that possession alone is not sufficient. Would this entail that, at least in the United States, somebody who merely downloads scans of material similar to this cannot be charged?

(If so, the relevant acts are more lenient than our legislation.)

[The appellant] is asserting the right to read or observe what he pleases - the right to satisfy his intellectual and emotional needs in the privacy of his own home. He is asserting the right to be free from state inquiry into the contents of his library. Georgia contends that appellant does not have these rights, that there are certain types of materials that the individual may not read or even possess. Georgia justifies this assertion by arguing that the films in the present case are obscene. But we think that mere categorization of these films as "obscene" is insufficient justification for such a drastic invasion of personal liberties guaranteed by the First and Fourteenth Amendments. Whatever may be the justifications for other statutes regulating obscenity, we do not think they reach into the privacy of one's own home. If the First Amendment means anything, it means that a State has no business telling a man, sitting alone in his own house, what books he may read or what films he may watch. Our whole constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men's minds.

[w]e are not disposed to extend the precise, carefully limited holding of Stanley to permit importation of admittedly obscene materials simply because it is imported for private use only. To allow such a claim would be not unlike compelling the Government to permit importation of prohibited or controlled drugs for private consumption as long as such drugs are not for public distribution or sale. We have already indicated that the protected right to possess obscene material in the privacy of one’s home does not give rise to a correlative right to have someone sell or give it to others. Nor is there any correlative right to transport obscene material in interstate commerce.

I've read that they actually kept 80 of the volumes that he had, and that those 7 are just representative of those 7....so yea, they probably kept the LO stuff too.

The only overturn now would be finding a technicality so their statement is rather like the postings here.

With all due respect, your reasoning is quite flawed.

1. The Handley conviction does not serve as a precedent because it is a plea. However, the court already ruled on the law in 2008 (in Handley's case on a constitutional challenge to the law).

2. There is no distinction in the law between the mail or the internet. Both are instrumentalities of interstate commerce. So whether you download your manga or get it by mail or carry it with you in your briefcase from Japan, the law is exactly the same.

3. Whorley was convicted on charges of downloading cartoons (from Fractal Underground Studio). He was ALSO SEPARATELY convicted under SEPARATE charges for downloading images of nude minors. The 4th Circuit already upheld the separate conviction for cartoons.

There is nothing to wait for. You have an answer.

otto117 wrote:

(...) 3. Whorley was convicted on charges of downloading cartoons (from Fractal Underground Studio). He was ALSO SEPARATELY convicted under SEPARATE charges for downloading images of nude minors. The 4th Circuit already upheld the separate conviction for cartoons.

(...)

3. I suppose my question here would be, how did they "prove," then, that he downloaded the images? They could have been given to him on a CD by someone else in the same community or something. Did they have records of his internet activities? I'd believed the loli stuff that Whorley was convicted of possession was independent of the idea that he had a "right" to possess the items unless they could prove he received them in interstate commerse.

Whorley used a public computer at a Virginia Employment Commission (“VEC”) office
in Richmond on March 30, 2004, to receive obscene Japanese anime cartoons that graphically
depicted (...)

Every year it seems we move closer to 1984. (I've not read the book but...)

Here you go:

Quote:

Whorley used a public computer at a Virginia Employment Commission (“VEC”) office in Richmond on March 30, 2004, to receive obscene Japanese anime cartoons that graphically depicted (...)

http://www.justice.gov/criminal/ceos/Press%20Releases/EDVA%20Whorley%20Verdict%20PR_120105.pdf

I'm definitely erring on the side of Handley. Does anyone know of any charities or activist groups of good repute that I can support to combat this unique breed of thought crime?

CR contacted Charles Brownstein, Executive Director of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, for comment. "Today's news of Christopher Handley's sentencing is a heartbreaking conclusion to a case that should never have occurred in the first place. Documents now in the public record show that Christopher is a devoted citizen, who did his best to serve his family and country. He is not and has never been a threat to society. The only victim in this case is Handley himself, who has been found guilty of a kind of thought crime. It's a sad day when an American is put in prison because of his taste in art and fiction. It is our fervent hope that no one else should suffer that same fate. Our prayers are with Christopher and his family in the trying months ahead."

Daemonblue wrote:

I've read that they actually kept 80 of the volumes that he had, and that those 7 are just representative of those 7....so yea, they probably kept the LO stuff too.

As a condition to accepting the plea, the government required him to give up all his lolicon.

Quote:

Whorley used a public computer at a Virginia Employment Commission (“VEC”) office in Richmond on March 30, 2004, to receive obscene Japanese anime cartoons that graphically depicted (...)

1984? Never heard of it. This discussion reminds me more of the movie "Equilibrium". Which reminds me, I have that set to record Today on the PVR.

Every year it seems we move closer to 1984. (I've not read the book but...) You know most Americans won't pity this guy. They don't care as long as they have a job and can criticize the GVRT. As for the 4th, we're screwed. The conservitives hate it more than the first. I think. I know Thomas doesn't believe in privacy.

otto117 wrote:

Daemonblue wrote: I've read that they actually kept 80 of the volumes that he had, and that those 7 are just representative of those 7....so yea, they probably kept the LO stuff too. As a condition to accepting the plea, the government required him to give up all his lolicon.

And whenever I hear that I have to wonder where and who has possession of those books now. Lord knows I've heard of many stories of DEA agents keeping samples of seizures for personal use. Hell, I was on a jury and the defense lawyer brought up a recent case of Boston officers being caught down Florida with drugs. Though I thought it was a cheap move and really unrelated to the case, it is always good to remember. Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? indeed.

Hayami wrote:

Quote: Whorley used a public computer at a Virginia Employment Commission (“VEC”) office in Richmond on March 30, 2004, to receive obscene Japanese anime cartoons that graphically depicted (...)

Wow. What a stupid piece of garbage. Of course, I got no sympathy for that guy since his case had him possessing photos of actual children being abused. The f---er deserves to be locked up. Well, not that I don't hope for some rehabilitation someday, as for any criminal, but they should throw the book at him. I just argue that tossing cartoons in with actual photos of actual children is wrong and not even needed.

nadir-seen-fire wrote:

1984? Never heard of it. This discussion reminds me more of the movie "Equilibrium". Which reminds me, I have that set to record Today on the PVR.

Please tell me you're trolling and are not serious. Really? Equilibrium, while enjoyable, totally owes everything to classic books like 1984 and Fahrenheit 451 and Brave New World. Such great films, well, pretty good films, only exist because they stand on the backs of giant like those classics. Though I myself do confess I've yet to read the copy of Brave New World I own.

kefkaownsall wrote:

Every year it seems we move closer to 1984. (I've not read the book but...) You know most Americans won't pity this guy. They don't care as long as they have a job and can criticize the GVRT. As for the 4th, we're screwed. The conservitives hate it more than the first. I think. I know Thomas doesn't believe in privacy.

If you haven't read the book, maybe you shouldn't comment about it like that. The thing that scares me is that way too many people who call themselves liberal are doing just as good a job paving the way to 1984 as so called conservatives. The so called liberals of the Democrats are the ones always riding the political correctness movement. (Though Palin sure jumped on that "f---ing retarded" bandwagon recently.) Plus it was Dem presidential candidate and current secretary of State Hillary Clinton who was on the bandwagon about Grand Theft Auto attacking our children. To me, neither of the big two parties in the US is truly liberal and looking out for our rights.