ACLU Asks Court to Dismiss Case Over Rock Album
The American Civil Liberties Union filed court papers Monday seeking to dismiss criminal charges against the rock group The Dead Kennedys in connection with a controversial poster included in the group’s “Frankenchrist” album.
The ACLU argues that the charges of distributing harmful material to a minor brought against lead singer Jello Biafra and other members of the group are barred under the First Amendment’s protections of free expression.
The poster by artist H. R. Giger, which depicts 10 sets of genitalia, is accompanied by an album cover sticker warning buyers that some “may find (it) shocking, repulsive or offensive. Life can sometimes be that way.”
Criminal charges were filed after a 14-year-old girl bought the album for her younger brother and the boy’s mother complained.
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