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Comics, Courts & Controversy: A Case Study Of The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, Marc H. Greenberg

Marc H. Greenberg

Abstract

Cartoons and comics have been a part of American culture since the formation of this nation. Throughout that lengthy history, comics and cartoons have also been a subject of controversy, censorship, legislation and litigation. They have been viewed as a threat to society, amid claims that they incite juvenile delinquency, and are scandalous, indecent and obscene.

This article is a case study of the work of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF), a New York-based non-profit organization which provides legal defense for comic artists, collectors, distributors and retailers who find themselves facing civil and/or criminal penalties for the …

"Put Colloquially, American Law Believes That Talking Out Prevents Acting Out." A First Amendment Primer, David D. Butler

David D. Butler

"Put Colloquially, American Law Believes that Talking Out Prevents Acting Out:" A Free Speech Primer argues that the Federal First Amendment, textually against Congress,and as incorporated by reference against the Several States, states a preference for (1) sanctioning harmful speech or expression in civil proceedings (2) rather than penalizing the speaker or actor in criminal prosecutions. The essay argues that whether in the 1988 theft of an unflattering painting of Chicago Mayor Harold Washington, titled "Mirth and Girth," by three Chicago aldermen from the Chicago Art Institute ranging to then president Clinton's perjury regarding his earlier sexual abuse of an …