Local Government and Free Speech

Sacramento’s City Council Law and Legislation Committee voted unanimously this week to advance repeal of a 1949 ordinance that bans distributing 'crime' comic books to minors and to designate the third week of September as 'Sacramento Comic Book Week.' The rarely enforced law targets comics depicting crimes such as arson, murder, or rape; the repeal now heads to the full council amid supporters’ First Amendment arguments and efforts to counter contemporary book bans.