Opponents challenge Arizona's 'revenge porn' law in court

By Daniel Wallis (Reuters) - A civil rights group filed a federal lawsuit on Tuesday on behalf of booksellers, newspapers and others against Arizona's so-called "revenge porn" law, which makes it a felony to post intimate images of others online without their consent. The American Civil Liberties Union said the law, which was signed by the state's Republican governor, Jan Brewer, in April and is one of the toughest in country, criminalizes speech protected by the U.S. Constitution. It added that anyone who distributes or displays a nude image, including pictures that are newsworthy, artistic, educational or historic, risked falling afoul of the legislation. "Arizona's law clearly violates the First Amendment," Lee Rowland, an attorney with the ACLU's Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, said in a statement. "States can address malicious invasions of privacy without treading on free speech, with laws that are carefully tailored to address real harms," she added. "Arizona's is not." Supporters of the legislation say it aims to crack down on attempts to humiliate ex-lovers, among others, that involve posting online images of the person naked or engaged in sexual acts without his or her permission. Under the law, perpetrators face a presumptive sentence of 18 months in prison, which can be increased to 2.5 years if the person in the image is recognizable. Last year, California Governor Jerry Brown signed the first law in the nation targeting "revenge porn," touching off similar initiatives in Georgia, Idaho, Utah, Virginia and other states. The ACLU lawsuit says Arizona's legislation is too broad because it is not limited to pornography, and because prosecutors do not need to prove that an individual publishing a photograph intended to harm the person depicted. One of the parties to the suit was Gayle Shanks, owner of a bookstore that has outlets in Tempe and Phoenix. She said in a statement she fears she is liable for prosecution. "There are books on my shelves right now that might be illegal," Shanks said. "How am I supposed to know whether the subjects of these photos gave their permission?" Other plaintiffs include the Voice Media Group, publisher of the Phoenix New Times newspaper, the Association of American Publishers, and the National Press Photographers Association.