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British Authorities Clear University over Mapplethorpe BookBritish authorities have decided against bringing obscenity charges against the University of Central England over a library book by the controversial photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. Acknowledging that the book's sexually explicit images were defensible as being "for the public good" as a contribution to art or learning, the Crown Prosecution Service concluded that there was insufficient evidence to realistically expect a conviction, the Telegraph newspaper reported October 1. Police seized the book last October after being alerted by a drug store that developed photographs of prints from the book, Mapplethorpe, taken by a student for a thesis on "Fine Art versus Pornography." University Vice-chancellor Peter Knight, who had refused to withdraw the book, criticized the police for taking an "inappropriate and flawed" action and the CPS for having taken so long to act on a complaint that "never had any reasonable prospect of leading to a successful prosecution." Posted October 5, 1998. |
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