U.S. prosecutes woman for explicit fiction posted on Internet

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Obscenity charges in the United States are relatively rare these days, and in cases involving the written word, they're extraordinarily so. But just last week, a Donora woman was arraigned in federal court on six counts of distributing obscenity over the Internet. Karen Fletcher, 54, is accused of writing dozens of fictional stories that involve the rape, torture and murder of children, including infants, and posting them to the Internet. She reportedly then sold subscriptions to the site, at $10 per month.

Ms. Fletcher's defense attorney, Warner Mariani, said he was astounded by the charges filed against her. A reader can find her words to be vile and reprehensible, he said, but that is not enough to censor her. "You don't defend what she's writing," he said. "You defend her right to write it."

source: Article < 'Rare' obscenity case targets writings - U.S. prosecutes woman for explicit fiction posted on Internet > by Paula Reed Ward; www.post-gazette.com/pg/06301/733755-85.stm; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; 28 October 2006