It shall be unlawful and an offense for any
person to sell, offer for sale, attempt to sell, display, give away,
keep in his possession with intent to sell or give away, or in any
way furnish or attempt to furnish to any person any illustrated comic
book, magazine or other publication which, read as a whole, is of
an obscene or depraved nature.
If any publication prohibited hereunder shall
be displayed in any newsstand, bookstore, drugstore, market or other
mercantile establishment where the prohibited publication may be seen
by any child under the age of 18 years visiting such establishment,
such display shall be prima facie evidence that the person in charge
of such establishment was then displaying the crime or horror comic
book or other prohibited publication and intended to sell, offer for
sale, furnish or attempt to furnish such prohibited publication to
a child or children under the age of 18 years in violation of this
article, but it shall be competent for the defendant in any such case
to show that no such intention existed.
[Amended 9-6-1977; 4-17-2006 by Ord. No. 06-06]
Any person violating or failing to comply with
any of the provisions of this article shall, upon conviction thereof,
be punishable by a fine of not more than $2,000 or by imprisonment
for a term not to exceed 90 days, or by both such fine and imprisonment,
in the discretion of the Judge. The continuation of such violation
on each successive day shall constitute a separate offense, and the
person or persons allowing or permitting the continuation of the violation
may be punished as provided above for each separate offense.
When not inconsistent with the context, words
used in the present tense include the future, words in the plural
number include the singular number, and words in the singular number
include the plural number. The word "shall" is always mandatory and
not merely directory. "Person" is any person, firm, partnership, association,
corporation, company or organization of any kind.