Senate Votes To Ban “Girls Gone Wild” Commercials

The state Senate Wednesday ignored an attorney general’s opinion and passed a bill to keep cable television from airing “Girls Gone Wild” commercials.

Dickson Senator Doug Jackson pushed the bill despite an AG’s opinion that it may be unconstitutional.

Jackson says he supports the bill because he objects to television commercials promoting the sale of such products.

“There’s no literary, artistic, political, or scientific value in these ads. It’s not a program with a plot. It’s strictly an advertisement to sell a product that a jury in Tennessee may determine to be illegal.”

The state attorney general’s office says a court could find the bill is pre-empted by Federal Communications Commission regulations over television broadcasts.

The House version of the bill is blocked in a closed subcommittee, making it unlikely the bill will advance further this year.

WEB EXTRA:

The bill is SB0014 Jackson/HB1108 Mike Turner, passed 31-0 in the Senate today/Wednesday. The House version is bottled up in the House Civil Practice Subcommittee where it failed on April 24, 2007. The House action probably kills any chance of passing the bill this year, although it will remain viable for action in 2008.

Officially the bill is described:

Criminal Offenses – Prohibits television station or cable television company from advertising or promoting material that it knows or should know to be obscene or harmful to minors – Amends TCA Title 39, Chapter 17, Part 9.

Title 39 is the book of criminal provisions of Tennessee law. The attorney general’s opinion was issued after both Representatives Frank Buck, a sponsor, and Rob Briley, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, requested a ruling.