Whether or not a state representative will follow through with her complaint against the Iowa State Daily last spring is yet to be decided.

“I haven’t made any decisions about possible criminal charges,” said Story County Attorney Steven Holmes. “It is an interesting First Amendment issue.”

Uncensored pictures of topless women holding sexual devices published in the March 19 issue sparked concern from Rep. Teresa Garman, R-Ames. Garman was concerned the material she viewed as obscene could be viewed by minors in the newspaper and on the paper’s Internet site.

However, in an April 13 article published in the Daily, former Editor in Chief Carrie Tett said she felt the pictures were an important and newsworthy addition to the story.

In the same article, Barbara Mack, associate professor of journalism and mass communication, said the photograph did not depict obscene images, citing the Iowa Code definition of obscenity.

Holmes disagrees with Mack’s analysis.

“The term `sex acts’ is a very broad term,” Holmes said. “The picture is inferring a homosexual act between women.”

The Iowa Code states in section 728.1, “Obscene material is any material depicting or describing the genitals, sex acts, masturbation, excretory functions or sadomasochistic abuse which the average person, taking the material as a whole and applying contemporary community standards with respect to what is suitable material for minors, would find appeals to the prurient interest and is patently offensive; and the material, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, scientific, political or artistic value.”

Tett could not be reached for comment.

Holmes said there are two separate matters in evaluating the complaint. The first is whether the images are legally obscene and the second is if the distribution is considered dissemination to minors.

The determination of obscenity will need to be determined in a court, he said. The photo has not yet been deemed obscene.

Holmes said censoring the picture would have been a better idea, in the paper and on the Internet because “any kid can enlarge the picture.”

He said no action has been taken since the initial complaint was brought to his attention.

“I never got a chance to speak to the editorial staff,” Holmes said. “I’d like to talk with them about the picture. I think [Garman has] a good point.”

He confirmed Garman wanted him to take legal action against the Daily.

“I think that the Attorney General, when I spoke with their office, agreed that it was obscene,” Garman said. “It was posted on the Web site with no notice to minors.”

If no action is taken against the Daily, Garman said she may or may not continue on with her complaint.

“I was concerned about an organization that felt the need to print an obscene photograph,” she said.

Joe Quinn, Iowa Newspaper Association legal hotline director, said charges brought against college or university newspapers are not common.

“It happens,” Quinn said. “Any time you’ve got reporters doing their job and reporting, it’s bound to generate controversy in the papers.”