Kroger

Powell's Books, Inc. v. Kroger

Good Law
622 F.3d 1202·2010 WL 3619949·38 Media L. Rep. (BNA) 2313·2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 19520
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth CircuitSeptember 20, 2010Nos. 09-35153, 09-35154California5,315 words

Opinion

Lead Opinion

McKeown, J.

We consider here the constitutionality of a pair of Oregon statutes intended to stop child sexual abuse in its early stages. The statutes broadly take aim at practices of “luring” and “grooming” that expose minors to sexually explicit materials in the hopes of lowering their inhibitions against engaging in sexual conduct. The “furnishing” statute, Oregon Revised Statute § 167.054 (“section 054”), criminalizes providing children under the age of thirteen *1207 with sexually explicit material. The “luring” statute, § 167.057 (“section 057”), criminalizes providing minors under the age of eighteen with visual, verbal, or narrative descriptions of sexual conduct for the purpose of sexually arousing the minor or the furnisher, or inducing the minor to engage in sexual conduct.

Appellants, a broad cross-section of booksellers; non-profit literary, legal, and health organizations; and a concerned grandmother (together, “Powell’s Books”), argue that these statutes violate the First Amendment. In particular, Powell’s Books claims, among other things, that the statutes are facially overbroad and criminalize a substantial amount of constitutionally protected speech. We…

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