Like Paul, I don’t want to be in the position of defending a pedophile either, but is anybody else worried about the precedent of arresting a man in one community for violating the obscenity standards of another?
Polk Sheriff Grady Judd said his office was able to arrest Greaves on Florida charges because Greaves sold and mailed his book, “The Pedophile’s Guide to Love and Pleasure: a Child-lover’s Code of Conduct,” directly to undercover Polk deputies. Judd says Greaves even signed the book.
“He very proudly sold us his personal copy,” Judd told the Associated Press. “I was outraged by the content. It was clearly a manifesto on how to sexually batter children … You just can’t believe how absolutely disgusting it was.”
And if instead of purchasing a physical book, Polk County deputies had merely downloaded the ebook edition from Greaves’ website, would that have been enough nexus to file charges and serve a warrant? Surely, prosecutors would not argue that it’s the medium—print—that makes Greaves’ book illegal, would they?
To be clear, it is free speech that I am defending here, not pedophilia. For while I’m guessing that I too would find the book to be disgusting, as long as the Miller Test remains the standard, I wouldn’t want my writing held to the community standards of Polk County Florida anymore than Greaves would.
Quick Dan, get that 3L girl to write a post summarizing an outline on jurisdiction.
Fucking hell, great point.
I think the issue here is the mailing. Mail fraud is how they usually try to get untouchable gangsters.
I hate the dude, his book and his weak-ass excuse to write it, but I agree that when i read the article I was creeped out by the Sting operation more than his police photo, and what it all means to free speech.
Just like Amazon recently banning a *fiction* book that has an incest scene in it, the goverment could slippery-slope the idea of obscenity by using a state with rigid laws to trick someone in a more liberal state.
Nailed it Goldy–as usual.
I hope no one is reading my FB updates in Florida, they’re routinely obscene.
Huh. I had thought there was a difference because the subject deals with children, but perhaps not? And people here are generally outraged when shipments to Little Sisters Bookstore in Vancouver get held up in customs due to “obscenity”….so, you make a very good point.
Obscenity laws in Canada and the US are abominations.
I understand why some Muslims defend oppressing infidels (because Allah told them to in the Qu’ran, and they’ll go to hell if they don’t follow its rules).
I understand why some Christians defend oppressing gays and women (because God told them to in the Bible, and they’ll go to hell if they don’t follow its rules).
But, I’ll just never understand why some atheists defend free speech at all costs because it’s “in the constitution.” Are some people just hardwired to follow nonsensical rules in old documents, no matter what the fuck the consequences are?
Clear thinking in real short supply here.
Defending the promotion of pedophilia as a free speech issue, really.
Local standards would still promote slavery in the South and hate speech would only be a speech about hate.
Perfect example of why the far left in America will never win elections. No longer interested in helping ordinary working americans is pedophiles, bums, dopers, and other members of the fucked up underclass that they champion.
I’m gonna write a book, “how to rape left wing lesbos in south park”
I eargerly await your defense Slog.
raku @8,
I defend the Constitution because it defends me. It’s got nothing to do with it being an old piece of paper, and everything to do with protecting my own right to free speech.
I’m glad they are arrested him. I was seven when I was first raped. If violating free speech meant I could have been protected, then so be it. I’m wondering if they can find every perv that bought the book and arrest them too.
ditto Goldy @12. How is this hard for folks like raku to understand?
In far too many other countries people do serious jail time or are simply disappeared for things they’ve dared to say/write about their government, the dominant religion, or business elites.
Those “nonsensical rules in [that] old document” (fuck, for real?!) are what separates us from them. So yeah, I’m a free speech absolutist. And if you had any sense, you would be too.
Hey, Survivor, me too. But that doesn’t make it less of an idiot attempt to silence unpopular speech.
Right on! @12 & 14.
P.S. why would “atheism” have anything to do with it?” smh.
Let’s only defend the rights of people we like.
@8 You fail logic forever.
The guy is not charged with pedophilia or hate crime. He’s charge with obscenity. Which can only see a conviction through the subjectivity of a jury. And he cannot be convicted if it’s political speech, which his book is. Bam. Waste of time and taxes.
Uh, okay people. I guess you’ve never been to Canada, where the Westboro Baptist Church is banned from entering for hate speech. Or France, where denying the holocaust is illegal. Or the Netherlands, where insulting minorities is illegal. Or pretty much any country in the world where murder is rare and health care is plentiful.
Just about every democratic state on the planet except USA has proven it’s pretty fucking easy to tell the difference between “calling Tim Eyman a horse’s ass” (acceptable) and “publishing detailed instructions on how to rape children” (not acceptable).
I was in a counter protest to members of the Westboro church a couple of years ago here in Seattle and always heard the reasoning of “free speech” to defend their hate signs. Naw, I don’t think writers having to worry about crossing the line between free speech and encouraging pedophilia. There is still a huge gap that your moral human compass will guide you.
I hate the goddamn slippery slop argument… i’ve been hearing it from the far right as long as i can remember… IT’S THE STUPID…
We can’t have gay marriage because slippery slope to blah blah blah…
We can’t have gays in the military because slippery slope to blah blah blah…
We can’t have the devil weed legalized because slippery slope to blah blah blah…
For fucks sake why can’t we judge each situation on its own merit…
I think I can safely say that 99.99% of America would think a tutorial on how to stick your cock/finger/foreign object into a 6 year old is obscene so why would you even try to defend it?… Jesus Christ On A Bicycle why even have obscenity laws if they don’t apply to something like this..
One of the main reasons to have a constitution is to protect the people it represents… and if all you “free speech at any cost” believers can’t see the harm you are doing to the children of our society by arguing in the defense of a tutorial on how to rape those children then you are all seriously fucked in the head…
So I need an opener for my book, ‘How to rape lesbo-liberals in South Park’. Any tips from Sloggers?
You think the Bill of Rights exists to protect the majority?
I live in Polk County, FL (yes, pity me) and Sheriff Grady Judd is notorious for being a media whore. He is not concerned with children or obscenity, just his next 5 minutes on Nancy Grace.
@22: no shit! How does this simple point prove so elusive.
raku, @18: Yep, been to each country you mention. Like em all. Might even work or live there under the right circumstances. Think they all need a first amendment though.