[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council of the Township of Livingston
11-5-1979 as §§ 18-1 and 18-56 to 18-59 of the
1979 Revised General Ordinances. Amendments noted where applicable.]
It is the object and purpose of this chapter to regulate the publication,
sale, display and distribution to minors of comic books devoted to crime,
sex, horror, terror, brutality and violence, and of "pocket books," photographs,
pamphlets, newspapers magazines and pornographic films devoted to the presentation
and exploitation of illicit sex, lust, passion, depravity, violence, brutality,
nudity and immorality, the reading of which has been found to be a basic factor
in juvenile crime and a basic factor in impairing the ethical and moral development
of our youth, and which present a clear and present danger to the people of
the community, and therefore the provisions, hereinafter prescribed, are necessary
in the public interest and welfare.
No person shall sell, offer to sell, lend, give away, furnish, show,
display or advertise for sale, or distribute commercially, to any minor under
the age of 18 years, or have in his possession with the intent to sell, offer
to sell, lend, give away, furnish, show, display or advertise for sale, or
distribute commercially, to any minor under the age of 18 years:
A.
Any book, pamphlet, newspaper, magazine or publication
consisting of narrative material in pictorial form, colored or uncolored,
and commonly known as comic books, the title or titles of which contain the
words crime, sex, horror or terror, or the content of which is devoted to,
or is principally made up of, pictures or accounts of methods of crime, of
illicit sex, horror, terror, physical torture, brutality or physical violence;
or
B.
Any pornographic motion picture, or any still picture
or photograph, or any book, "pocket book," pamphlet, newspaper, magazine,
or other publication the cover or content of which exploits, is devoted to,
or is principally made up of description of, illicit sex or sexual immorality,
or which is obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, indecent or disgusting, or
which consists of pictures of nude or partially nude figures posed or presented
in a manner to provoke, incite or arouse lust or passion, or to exploit sex,
lust or perversion or is "material obscene for persons under 18" as defined
by N.J.S.A. 2C:34-3.
If any publication hereby prohibited shall be exhibited or displayed
in any newsstand, bookstore, drugstore, market, or other mercantile establishment
where the same may be seen by any minor under the age of 18 years visiting
such establishment, such exhibition or display shall be prima facie evidence
that the owner or person in charge of such establishment was then and there
exhibiting or displaying the same with intent to sell, offer for sale or furnish
such prohibited publication to a minor or minors under the age of 18 years
in violation of this chapter, but it shall be competent for such owner or
other person in charge of such establishment, in any prosecution hereunder,
to show that no such intent existed.
This chapter shall not be construed to apply to those accounts of crime
which are part of the ordinary and general dissemination of news, to such
drawings or photographs as are used to illustrate such accounts, to legitimate
illustrated, historical accounts of crime or crimes, or to those books and
publications which are generally known as the "classics" or "classic literature."
Unless another penalty is expressly provided herein, any person who
violates any provision of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, be
punished by a fine not exceeding $500, or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding
90 days, or both. A separate offense shall be deemed committed on each day
during or on which a violation occurs or continues.
