Arkansas Code Annotated

Ark. Code Ann. § 5-68-502 (2020)

Selling, loaning, or displaying pornography to minors

✓ Arkansas Code release r76: Acts through about 2020 (2021-2025 sessions missing)

Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section JustiaArk. Code CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

It is unlawful for any person, including without limitation any person having custody, control, or supervision of any commercial establishment, to knowingly:
1. 1. Display material that is harmful to minors in such a way that the material is exposed to the view of a minor as part of the invited general public.
  2. However, a person is deemed not to have displayed material harmful to minors if:
    1. The material is kept behind devices commonly known as “blinder racks” so that the lower two-thirds (2/3) of the material is not exposed to view; or
    2. Material harmful to minors is not contained on the front cover, back cover, or binding of the displayed material;
2. 1. Sell, furnish, present, distribute, allow to view, or otherwise disseminate to a minor with or without consideration any material that is harmful to minors.
  2. However, the prohibition under subdivision (a)(2)(A) of this section does not apply to any dissemination:
    1. By a parent, guardian, or relative within the third degree of consanguinity of the minor; or
    2. With the consent of a parent or guardian of the minor; or
3. 1. Present to a minor or participate in presenting to a minor with or without consideration any performance that is harmful to minors.
  2. However, the prohibition under subdivision (a)(3)(A) of this section does not apply to any dissemination:
    1. By a parent, guardian, or relative within the third degree of consanguinity to the minor; or
    2. With the consent of a parent or guardian of the minor.
A violation of subsection (a) of this section is a Class B misdemeanor.

History. Acts 1969, No. 133, § 2; A.S.A. 1947, § 41-3582; Acts 1999, No. 1263, § 2; 2003, No. 858, § 1; 2007, No. 579, § 1; 2015, No. 1263, § 19.

Amendments. The 2003 amendment, in (1)(B), deleted “material is kept behind devices commonly known as ‘blinder racks’ so that the” preceding “lower” and added “and segregated in a manner that physically prohibits access to the materials by minors.”

The 2015 amendment rewrote the section heading; inserted designation (a); in the introductory language of (a), substituted “without limitation” for “but not limited to”; substituted “(a)(2)(A)” for “(2)(A)” in (a)(2)(B); substituted “degree of” for “degree or” in (a)(2)(B)(i); substituted “(a)(3)(A)” for “(3)(A)” in (a)(3)(B); and added (b).

Case Notes

Constitutionality.

Based upon responses from questions certified to the Arkansas Supreme Court pursuant to Ark. Sup. Ct. R. 6-8, a federal district court found that this section effectively stifled the access of adults and older minors to communications and material they were entitled to receive and view under U.S. Const. amends. I and XIV. Shipley, Inc. v. Long, 454 F. Supp. 2d 819 (E.D. Ark. 2004) (decided under former version of statute).

Construction.

In response to certified questions from the federal district court, the state Supreme Court determined that all minors had to be protected from material that was deemed to be harmful to minors; specifically, this material had to be obstructed from view and physically segregated for librarians and booksellers to avoid prosecution. Shipley, Inc. v. Long, 359 Ark. 208, 195 S.W.3d 911 (2004).

The “safe harbor” provision of this section requires only that some physical obstacle stand between minors and the area where prohibited material is displayed so that minors have no access to such material; although booksellers may choose the method best suited to their individual establishments, it remains for the federal court to ultimately determine whether such a requirement violates the First Amendment rights of booksellers, librarians, and their adult customers. Shipley, Inc. v. Long, 359 Ark. 208, 195 S.W.3d 911 (2004).

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 6 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1997–2023 · leading case: Shipley, Inc. v. Long, 195 S.W.3d 911 (Ark. 2004).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

Shipley, Inc. v. Long, 195 S.W.3d 911 (Ark. 2004). · cites it 54× “Ark. Code Ann. § 5-68-502 (1)(A),(2)(A) (Supp.”

Reno v. Am. Civil Liberties Union, 521 U.S. 844 (1997). · cites it 2× “§ 13 3506 (1989); Ark. Code Ann. § 5-68-502 (1993); Cal. Penal Code Ann.”

Shipley, Inc. v. Long, 454 F. Supp. 2d 819 (E.D. Ark. 2004). · cites it 7× “The majority states: The first of the federal court’s four questions poses the heart of the matter: can § 5-68-502, as amended, be given a narrow enough construction that will both save the statute from constitutional infirmity and, at the same time, leave it with any meaning? *…”

Shipley, Inc. v. Long, 148 S.W.3d 746 (Ark. 2004). · cites it 2× “The statute (§ 5-68-502) makes it unlawful to “display material which is harmful to minors in such a way that minors, as part of the invited general public, will be exposed to view such material.”

Fayetteville Pub. Library v. Crawford Cnty., No. 5:23-cv-05086 (W.D. Ark. July 29, 2023). · cites it 4× “, Ark. Code Ann. § 5-68-502 (a)(2)(B)(i). Arguably, if a parent were to act as a straw buyer or borrower of a book that is deemed harmful to a young minor, criminal liability would attach if the parent then provided the material to his 17-year-old child.”

Berkley v. State, 2019 Ark. App. 206, 575 S.W.3d 190. · cites it 2× “2013), Class B misdemeanor; loaning pornography to minors, 2 counts, in violation of Ark. Code Ann. § 5-68-502 (2)(a) (Repl. 2013), Class A misdemeanor.”

Ark. Code Ann. § 5-68-502(1): 2 cases

Shipley, Inc. v. Long, 195 S.W.3d 911 (Ark. 2004). “Ark. Code Ann. § 5-68-502 (1)(A),(2)(A) (Supp.”

Fayetteville Pub. Library v. Crawford Cnty., No. 5:23-cv-05086 (W.D. Ark. July 29, 2023). “, Ark. Code Ann. § 5-68-502 (a)(2)(B)(i). Arguably, if a parent were to act as a straw buyer or borrower of a book that is deemed harmful to a young minor, criminal liability would attach if the parent then provided the material to his 17-year-old child.”

Ark. Code Ann. § 5-68-502(1)(A): 2 cases

Shipley, Inc. v. Long, 195 S.W.3d 911 (Ark. 2004). “Ark. Code Ann. § 5-68-502 (1)(A),(2)(A) (Supp.”

Shipley, Inc. v. Long, 454 F. Supp. 2d 819 (E.D. Ark. 2004). “The majority states: The first of the federal court’s four questions poses the heart of the matter: can § 5-68-502, as amended, be given a narrow enough construction that will both save the statute from constitutional infirmity and, at the same time, leave it with any meaning? *…”

Ark. Code Ann. § 5-68-502(1)(B): 1 case

Shipley, Inc. v. Long, 195 S.W.3d 911 (Ark. 2004). “Ark. Code Ann. § 5-68-502 (1)(A),(2)(A) (Supp.”

Ark. Code Ann. § 5-68-502(2)(A): 1 case

Shipley, Inc. v. Long, 195 S.W.3d 911 (Ark. 2004). “Ark. Code Ann. § 5-68-502 (1)(A),(2)(A) (Supp.”

Ark. Code Ann. § 5-68-502(A): 2 cases

Shipley, Inc. v. Long, 148 S.W.3d 746 (Ark. 2004). “The statute (§ 5-68-502) makes it unlawful to “display material which is harmful to minors in such a way that minors, as part of the invited general public, will be exposed to view such material.”

Shipley, Inc. v. Long, 454 F. Supp. 2d 819 (E.D. Ark. 2004). “The majority states: The first of the federal court’s four questions poses the heart of the matter: can § 5-68-502, as amended, be given a narrow enough construction that will both save the statute from constitutional infirmity and, at the same time, leave it with any meaning? *…”

Ark. Code Ann. § 5-68-502(a): 1 case

Shipley, Inc. v. Long, 195 S.W.3d 911 (Ark. 2004). “Ark. Code Ann. § 5-68-502 (1)(A),(2)(A) (Supp.”

Ark. Code Ann. § 5-68-502(a)(A): 1 case

Shipley, Inc. v. Long, 195 S.W.3d 911 (Ark. 2004). “Ark. Code Ann. § 5-68-502 (1)(A),(2)(A) (Supp.”

Ark. Code Ann. § 5-68-502(l)(B): 1 case

Shipley, Inc. v. Long, 195 S.W.3d 911 (Ark. 2004). “Ark. Code Ann. § 5-68-502 (1)(A),(2)(A) (Supp.”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.