Thank you all for supporting this petition. In our first week, we've rallied to attract over 150 signatures. Thank you so much for your support!

I wanted to take a minute and answer a few frequently asked questions and mention the next steps -- which the biggest is simply spreading the word! 

Is this law actually a problem?  This takes up time when we could be addressing other issues!?

I was interviewed about this city code around ~2018, and the reporter then said it hadn't been enforced since 2001. A commentator who has better crime stat searches than me suggested that he'd only seen it applied as a secondary crime -- think getting Al Capone on tax evasion.

I absolutely agree there are a lot of issues facing Sacramento right now, let alone across the nation and world -- but I also feel like we rarely pro-active; only reactive when it comes to issues. This code is terrible. It's vague, antiquated, and dangerous law to leave on the book.

Additionally, the petition also endorses creating a Sacramento Comic Book Week -- just like Poetry Week, Bacon Week, Beer Week, etc, etc. It's just a great civic way to do the right thing while we recognize Sacramento's vibrant comic scene and giving us the fans and community space to collectively celebrate.

There is a LOT going on in society and around the world right now, but our City can do hard things, small things, easy things, big things, sad things, and happy things all at the same time. 

Isn't this law protecting the fragile minds of our innocent youth? If we get rid of this, what's to stop kids from getting explicit content? Do comics have some sort of rating system like film and video games?!?

First and foremost, there are numerous Federal laws in the United States that prohibit, regulate, and criminalize explicit content in ways that make this city code extremely redundant, but Sacramento's code is also far more restrictive and punitive as it makes even attempted crimes prohibited.

The Sacramento code was created in the late 1940s -- just a few years after the bikini was invented -- but before the full moral panic on comics had fully set in. It wasn't really until the mid-1950s. A perfect example was in the wake of national headlines of the "Brooklyn Thrill Killers" -- a group of teenagers who murdered and tortured unhoused people and "vagrants" through acts of barbaric vigilantism. They were either inspired by the pages of comic books they read or by their desire to support the police commissioner at the time who was callously rounding up "social undesirables" amid the McCarthy-ism of the time. No surprise that people chose to blame the comics the teenagers read and paint that the true cause of juvenile delinquency across the United States -- we've seen it over and over with moral panics from video games, social media, heavy metal, rap music, role playing games, motion pictures, and rock music.

This was especially crime and horror comics of the time and people took the issue of comics and juvelille delinquency all the way to DC where according to US Senators and social psychologists like Dr. Fredric Wertham --who wrote the book "Seduction of the Innocent"-- and they called for the end of all comic books. And in many ways, they were successful as the industry formed and bent the knee and formed the Comics Code Authority -- which created decades of censorship. The CCA sanitized heroes like Batman and Superman and the rest of the Justice League -- but also banned words like "terror", "horror", and made prohibited content out of "zombies" --- even "werewolfism" -- over the decades and push and pulling the CCA eased here and there, but it was widely viewed within the industry as a censorship body. 

Here are a few of the CCA's tenets:

• Policemen, judges, government officials, and respected institutions shall never be presented in such a way as to create disrespect for established authority.
• Suggestive and salacious illustration or suggestive posture is unacceptable.
• No comic magazine shall use the words "horror" or "terror" in its title.
• The crime of kidnapping shall never be portrayed in any detail, nor shall any profit accrue to the abductor or kidnaper. The criminal or the kidnaper must be punished in every case.
• All characters shall be depicted in dress reasonably acceptable to society.
• Although slang and colloquialisms are acceptable, excessive use should be discouraged and, wherever possible, good grammar shall be employed.
• Divorce shall not be treated humorously nor represented as desirable.
• The treatment of live-romance stories shall emphasize the value of the home and the sanctity of marriage.

The Comics Code Authority was finally dissolved in 2011, but the lionshare of people in comics and free speech advocates see the CCA as an era of censorship over free speech on the comic book industry. A stamp on a book that promised strict moral conformity and created many underground movements in comix.

Society’s tolerances have shifted dramatically -- what youth has ready access to has shifted dramatically, and it really makes a codified book restrictions like this law in Sacramento needless when there are stronger laws that more precisely create prevention and consequences of explicit material being distributed to youth.

There are many books on shelves at comic shops today from the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to the latest The Last Ronin that absolutely feature mayhem, arson, murder, and other crimes be it by the villain or the heroes. The Walking Dead, the Boys, Invincible -- these are popular tv shows born from comic books that were consumed by 13-17+ audiences, but that could be readily challenged by this law while their television counterparts are readily consumable via cable or streaming services. 

In my opinion, Sacramento could take this off the books entirely because (a) it’s an antiquated & redundant law (b) the industry is largely self-regulated and has been for many decades (c) it removes the ability for a bad actor to use the law inappropriately because it is vague and not actively enforced.

Why are we advocating for minors to read about violent crimes like rape, murder, and torture? 

We absolutely are not advocating for minors to read books that are not appropriate for their age. Signing this petition is not an endorsement of kids consuming comics that aren't age appropriate; it's recognizing this law doesn't serve the community and could, in fact, create space for the reverse.
I've personally been making comics for almost 20 years and I absolutely feel parents should remain involved in what their children are reading and consuming across the cultural spectrum -- not just comic books. 

Stripping out this law doesn't change access that minors already basically have. Look at this Goodreads list of books recommended for 9th Grade (14-15 yr. olds) 
Under this law, most of these books could fall under this law. Just the first 10, about all of them could contested thanks to the vagueness of this law, especially because the law includes "attempted" crime. Many of these books are taught in middle and high schools, many are readily available in comic shops and book stores across the country.

Removing the law makes it harder for parents to have a reaction like this: 

Parent: "Where did you get that comic book?!" 
Kid: "I bought it at a comic store!" 
Parent: "They shouldn't be selling this to kids. I'm gonna have them shut down for this!"

to this:

Parent: "Where did you get that comic book?!" 
Kid: "I bought it at a comic store!" 
Parent: "Well, I want to look this over before you read it. I'm not sure that's something you should read right now. Can you tell me why you want to read this?"

Lastly, thank you. This is already off to a great start!

As a humble cartoonist, it's so great to see people taking a moment to share this. Recognize it as a potential problem and fill out a form to advocate for change. It's inspiring. At least one City Council member has already reached out to me! 

My next step is to speak at an open City Council meeting, probably on -- Tuesday August 12 at 5pm -- night, but I plan to send an e-comment, too. If you'd like to join or offer your two cents, I'd welcome that. I plan to reach out to the City's Arts and Creative Economy Manager as well about the formation of Sacramento Comic Book week and continue to work at gathering and promoting events, signings, and other comic book mirth in Sacramento that week.

Let's keep it going! If you can share this petition again this week ---- wonderful!