JoCo grand jury dismisses obscenity question involving arboretum statue

[pstokely]

Source: Kansas City Star

After less than a day of deliberation, a Johnson County grand jury late Friday afternoon declined to issue an indictment over a bare-breasted sculpture at the Overland Park Arboretum.

The 15-member jury was chosen Friday morning to determine if the bronze sculpture entitled “Accept or Reject” violated the Kansas obscenity law.

Critics of the sculpture had submitted a petition to have a grand jury seated to study the issue.

District Judge Gerald Elliott instructed the jurors that they were to determine if there was probable cause to believe a crime had been committed. If so, they were to issue an indictment known as a true bill. But late Friday afternoon, they notified the court that they had issued a “no true bill” ruling.

Along with its finding, the jury released a written statement: “We sat for one day and viewed the photographs of the statue. We reviewed the Kansas law and found that the sculpture in question did not meet the legal definition of obscenity.”


Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/10/27/3887013/joco-grand-jury-dismisses-obscenity.html#storylink=cpy

[Quantess]

1. Kansas sounds like the worst place on the continent sometimes.

Don't they have anything better to do?

[pstokely]

2. Being Kansas, that's probably the only thing to do

nt

[RKP5637]

7. There are some very very strange people living in Kansas, especially in government. ...

I would never make KS a destination for anything. And when the teabagger regime takes over the entire government with RW'ers (as it's predicted after the recent primaries), they will need to put up checkpoints to keep some in the state. Of course the message from government in Kansas is if you don't like it, then get the F out. And some think crap like this is going to attract corporations and zillions of people to Kansas for employment.

[crunch60]

20. I think all the faux relegious. tea bagger, fundamentalist nutty so called christians, should move

to Kansas, where everybody lives in a world of make believe,( the world is flat, creationism, etc.) male dominance, and Stepford like wives. Governor and Pastor: Fred Phelps, Westboro Baptist Church, will rule the state of Kansas with an iron fist. OK all followers, let's get going! Finally a pure Godly place to live in peace.
p.s Military funeral protests are mandatory every week..........

[RKP5637]

21. Since the Koch Brothers now own the Kansas government and the state, it should

just be rename Koch. Why they think people are going to flock to Kansas for employment and to live is beyond me to grasp anymore. Anytime Kansas makes national headlines it's for something weird. Kansas has made itself into a national joke.

[awoke_in_2003]

18. I would say they should...

take a scenic drive in the country, but then it is Kansas- miles and miles of miles and mile. All flat

[fightthegoodfightnow]

3. At Least The Grand Jury Came Out on the Correct Side

scary that it was even brought to a grand jury!

[Art_from_Ark]

4. Here are some statues specially selected for Kansas

[crunch60]

16. I got some more, straight from Japan, Mara kannon penis temple.

Hey Kansas, get your priorities straight will ya! The Japanese worship the phallic.

Just Google the follow : ( sorry, the google wouldn't allow me to post photos..)

Mara kannon penis temple, Yamaguchi, Japan, 2006

[Art_from_Ark]

19. Here's their welcome sign

[RKP5637]

5. American Family Association - an acknowledged Hate Group. These people are

despicable jerks.

[jerseyjack]

6. The assholes in the family association are one thing.

But why waste court time and money bringing this to a grand jury unless the district attorney is elected and needs to pander.

[RKP5637]

8. See post #7. Strange things go on in KS. People don't pay attention when they vote. Look at

the governor, for example.

[bucolic_frolic]

9. Anyone

finding arousal in those bronze Neanderthals

has some serious problems!

[ChairmanAgnostic]

10. the AFA is a collection of loons.

i get their emails and read their crap daily. scary stuff.

does anyone recall their movement for a million person sign up for some reason? I think it was anti-abortion or something. after heavy promo, after multiple emails, and after their status reports about how well their promo was going, - absolute silence. Apparently, their signup was a little short of a million. I think one number I read was 43,000 total. in other words, two megachurches. that must have hurt.

the PR and coverage they get far exceeds their actual numbers or their impact: a bunch of bible-based loons, who do not believe in evolution, a 13 billion year old universe, or stem cells.

[crunch60]

22. Was this the group that said they had one million Mom signatures

trying to prevent Ellen DeGeneres from being a spokeswoman for Penny's store? They came up way short on those "million" signatures they said they had. Bigot's!

[marions ghost]

11. wish you could show the picture!

This story is interesting--the statue is of a headless woman with her arm outstretched taking a picture of her bare breasts. The anti-art people say the problem is sexting, not nudity, and that kids often come to these gardens.

Well if kids are seeing this it certainly puts sexting in a NOT so glamorous light. Seems to be a statement about narcissism, vanity, "look at me looking at myself"--which is kind of sad really. I don't see that it promotes sexting. It's just creepy. What bothers me is that it's only a woman representing this naughty practice (= women are evil) --I wish there was a statue of Weiner also doing the same thing.

Usually you don't see stuff like this outside. While I think it's ridiculous to have seated a grand jury over this, I understand why people might be uncomfortable with it in the setting. Still, I would not suggest removing it. We need some discomfort in public art sometimes. I DO wish there were a matching male figure.

This is not classic porn, I agree with that-- but this is also NOT your classic nude statue!

--(thanx for posting, OP)

[eggplant]

15. And a statue with a civil war soldier pointing a bayonet?

Does that make people want to grab a bayonet and start charging crowds?

Sigh.

[marions ghost]

17. Yeah

people have weird reactions to public art. There are only certain approved themes. This one is outside the usual, but so what? If it gets people talking about the issues, good.

Whatever anybody doesn't want to see--has TO GO--is very indicative of this culture we find ourselves in. That's one of the reasons why our outside environment is so sterile and bland. A bewildering sameness everywhere. You have to find some little pocket of realness as an antidote.

Every time I go to a generic shopping mall I see a LOT of stuff--products, architecture, junk--that I find offensive, yet nobody's gonna ask that it be removed.

Leave art alone. This doesn't cross a line of decency (there are many things that would).

[crunch60]

23. Romney might like the bayonet , send him one to go along

with his horse, and he can charge his way into the White House..

[reACTIONary]

12. What's the matter with Kansas? This question has been being asked...

...for over a hundred years. The more things change....

http://www.kancoll.org/articles/what%27s_the_matter_with_kansas.html

[mjjoe]

13. Seriously?

AFA got all steamed over metallic, boob-shaped structures? Shouldn't they be focusing on more important issues? There are millions of women who have jobs, exert control over their own bodies and are allowed to vote. Instead of trying to suppress them and treat them as second-class citizens, the AFA is wasting resources on sculptures. Where is this group's priorities?

[ThomThom]

14. I'm sure this won't be the end of it.

The courts will hear this again and again and again until the "right answer" comes down.