Fuck Texas: Dubya's native state deems comics a children's medium

By Frank Beaton

A few months ago, I reported on a case in Dallas, Texas, involving a comic-shop employee convicted of obscenity after selling a Japanese horror-porn comic to an undercover cop. The cop, of course, was well over the age of 18, and the shop in question kept all of its adult comics behind the counter to ensure that kids didn't get a hold of them. But that didn't matter. Seems the mere existence of adult comics so offended the good people of Dallas that Jesus Castillo was sentenced to six months in jail and a $10,000 fine. Castillo enlisted the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund to handle his case, but their expert witnesses and Yankee logic were apparently no match for the Dallas D.A.'s good ol' fashioned closin' argument: "Use your common sense, people. Comic books ... are for kids. This material was obviously intended for children." Yee-haw!

The Texas appellate court denied Castillo's appeal (not uncommon in the Lone Star State -- which still leads the world in the execution of the mentally ill), leaving the CBLDF with one option: The U.S. Supreme Court. Last week, the Supreme Court refused to hear the case. I guess after that sodomy thing they didn't want to hear anything "artsy" for a while.

So let's think about the precedent this sets. Oh, come on, just for a minute. It'll be fun. The case of Texas vs. Castillo essentially states that: 1) Media can now be used to determine whether a piece of art is obscene, and 2) you can be accused of offering obscene material to children, even if you've never actually done so. Neat, huh? So if you're an artist whose chosen medium is one that could conceivably appeal to children, or a conscientious storeowner who sells that artist's work, you may be going to jail, because YOU ARE A DANGER TO OUR CHILDREN. Whether they know about you or not.

Set aside for a moment the immediate impact this has on comic books and think about the big picture. What other forms of art do kids like? Movies? Check. Music? Oh yeah. Novels? Judging from the popularity of the Harry Potter series, I'd say yes. Visual art? Well, children produce far more paintings and drawings than adults do, so it looks like that one's a given, too. Pretty much covers everything, doesn't it? Thank you, Texas. Thank you for protecting us from all that scary "art." Let's go blow up a few of them 'bortion clinics to celebrate!

Comics, of course, are pretty much fucked. If it's OK for prosecutors to instruct juries to ignore sales figures, expert testimony, sociological analyses and anything else that demonstrates the point that not all comics are for kids (in fact, the majority of them aren't anymore), then comics creators may have a rough time coming up. After all, popular series like Preacher and Sandman contain numerous uses of the F-word; Pulitzer Prize-winner MAUS could be cited for scenes of animal cruelty; and the average issue of Johnny the Homicidal Maniac contains a metric fuckload of graphic violence. Of course, none of these books are intended for kids, and are clearly labeled as "mature readers" or "adults only," but I guess that doesn't matter, either. WE MUST PROTECT THE CHILDREN.

I am but a lowly journalist and not versed in matters of law. So I decided to ask Las Vegan, renowned slam poet, alternate judge and former public defender Dayvid Figler what he thinks of the case. "Obscenity cases are always subjective, and that's the problem," says Figler. "There are very few people in America who, if the police came into their homes, wouldn't have something which could be considered 'obscene.' Whether it's a personal journal, a film, or the Bible " -- which, I may add, contains numerous scenes of rape, incest and ritual murder -- "if someone is looking for obscenity, believe me, they'll find it."

From Henry Miller to 2 Live Crew, Americans, it seems, are scared to death of passive depictions. People have done time for everything from Howl to Jim Morrison recordings, and it never seems to change.

Figler tells me that there has never been a successful obscenity prosecution in Las Vegas, but as the American political paradigm continues to shift further and further to the right (with Nevada matching every step), that may change. The Texas legal system has leveled a hell of a blow against the First Amendment, and we'll be feeling aftershocks of this decision for decades to come. Trust me on this one.

"That store clerk in Texas is in really good company," adds Figler. "Lenny Bruce, Henry Miller, Allen Ginsberg, Jim Morrison -- they've all been right where he is." The passage of time made heroes of those men, and monsters of the men who persecuted them. We can only wish the same for Jesus Castillo.

In the meantime, I have only one thing to say: Fuck Texas. Ignore anything that comes out of that deluded, backwater state. Please. For the children.

Frank Beaton is a local freelance writer. He can be reached at frank_beaton@hotmail.com.