[ACLU-NM] ACLU Files Lawsuit in "She-Devil" Sticker Case

[Kimberly Lavender]

 ACLU-NM NEWS RELEASE ~


For Immediate Release, March 3rd, 2005



Contact:        Peter Simonson, ACLU-NM Executive Director, 266-4622

`           George Bach, ACLU-NM Staff Attorney, 266-4622





ACLU Takes Offensive in Clovis Sticker Case


Santa Fe—Today, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico filed a
lawsuit in state court in Santa Fe requesting a declaration that free speech
guarantees in the New Mexico Constitution protect the right of Clovis
resident Dean Young to display two “she-devil” stickers on the windows of
his car.  The stickers, which depict two horned, partially-clad, cartoon
women, have been the subject of considerable controversy in the Clovis area
ever since a Clovis police detective charged Young under a state law that
prohibits the knowing distribution of sexually-explicit material to minors.
Young placed the material on his vehicle as a political statement protesting
the ban on Sunday liquor sales in Clovis.



“Mr. Young was just doing what Americans do: he was speaking out about a law
that he didn’t like,” said ACLU-NM Executive Director Peter Simonson.
“Evidently the police officer who cited him didn’t like the manner in which
Young chose to express himself, so he charged Young with an arbitrary
 crime.”



In addition to the free speech claim, the ACLU complaint asks the Court to
declare that the statute prohibiting the distribution of “sexual material
harmful to minors” does not apply to the display of Young’s stickers and
that the stickers are not harmful to minors.



Simonson said, “It’s a shame that the district attorney’s office insists on
pursuing this.  No doubt they have more important cases to attend to.  We’re
confident that the court will resolve the matter quickly, though, and in our
favor.”



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Peter G. Simonson

Executive Director, ACLU of New Mexico

PO Box 80915 | Albuquerque, NM 87198

Tel: (505) 266-5915 | Fax: 266-5916


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