We as an association have caused to be introduced « bill m the city conneil a copy of which IT should like te show you, the purpose being to do away with many abuses of the newsdeslers. ieidal in the bill isa provision that the publishers and distributors shall not distribute or sell to any licensed newsdealer, any publication that is lewd or in- decent or any such publication that the city license commission or license department considers Jewd or indecent or considers improper or unlawful for disphuy or resale to the public.
We hope if this billis passed it may serve its purpose,
Mr. Hannoch. Do you think so, as a lawyer?
This is not lewd or indecent in the statutory sense, is it?
Mr. Richter. It may be considered improper. I was going to men- tion that it is too vague. here are no standards and there are no guides and I, as an attorney, cannot define to you what is lewd, obscene, and indecent. Our courts have differed. Our Supreme Court, as you may know, has upset section 1144 of the penal law which would have been a weapon to combat this.
I don't criticize the Court. I daresay that the law wasn't written properly. They should have guides and standards so that a layman—not a court or judge. but a layman—should be able to understand what is indecent and what is lewd and what is improper and what is offen- sive, so that a newsdealer himself could knew.
I should not have to go around interpreting for these newsdealers.. I think they should be able to see for themselves what is bad.
Our license commissioner for the city of New York has been trymg to do a laudable jab, but even his hands are tied. The courts are con- fused, the law is confused.
To my mind I think the solution to this entire problem pe would be a preperly werded, properly coded, properly standardized Federal legislation with censorship of cistribution.
Mr. Beaser. Mr. Richter, where does this pressure come from? You said Federal legislation. Is it the local wholesaler who is bundling these up and sending them in?
Mr. Richter. The distributor. The newsdealer has no contact with the publisher as such. lis contact is with the distributer Jike Man- hattan News, American News. He has no contact with the publishers, Ve takes what he does from the distributor.
You cell them wholesalers. The wholesalers operate through distributors.
Senator Hennings. You are aware, of course, as an able lawyer, as. to the difficulty of drafting such a statute?
Mr. Richter. I most assuredly am, sir.
Senator Hennings. If you as an expert in this field have any sug- gestions and would care to submit a draft te the subcommittee, I am sure we would be glad to have it.
Mr. Richter. I think you have felt the pulse when you said there are. no standards, vo guides, no proper definitions of what is lewd er indecent.
Mr. Hannoch. Give some thought as to whether these impair the morals of children.
Mr. Richter. I cannot say. I am not an expert in that field. It would seem to me that it is a logical sequence that would follow from reading stuff of that kind.
