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Free Speech X-Press
Delivering Weekly Censorship Updates to the Adult Industry
Vol. IX, No. 6, December 8, 2006 -- A Member Service of the Free Speech Coalition
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This Free Speech X-press was researched and edited by Layne Winklebleck.
Copyright 2006 Free Speech Coalition. Permission to reprint granted to FSC members; please give credit.
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VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR FSC MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION
http://www.freespeechcoalition.com
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PLEASE NOTE:
Last week, our X-Press e-mailing was the victim of an error on the part of our list-serve ISP, which resulted in some recipients getting spam which appeared to contain viruses. The ISP (inreach.com) owners have apologized and we were given assurances regarding the future safety of using the Inreach list-serve. However, to be on the safe side, we have decided to e-mail this edition of the X-Press through our own servers. There may be some changes in formatting as a result.
The X-Press Censorship Updates will not be published next week, as your editor, Layne Winklebleck, will be joining Kat Sunlove in Costa Rica for a long-planned vacation.
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STORE OWNERS FACE TRIAL
St. MARTIN`S PARISH, LA The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear a challenge to the constitutionality of Louisiana`s obscenity law in a case involving two store owners here, Edward Burleigh Jr., who owns The Video Place, and Emmette Jacob Jr., owner of Le Video Store. The charges against the two are based on standard adult titles such as "Sabrina`s First Swing Party Orgy" and "Bootleg Bondage, Vol. 1." The initial charges were filed in 2004 after employees at the stores agreed to testify against the store owners as part of their plea bargains. (See X-Press report, "Employees to Testify Against Store Owners," 12/17/04)
Jacob`s attorney, Chicago-based First Amendment specialist J.D. Obenberger, raised questions around Louisiana`s "community standards" test, guidelines set out under state law for determining what constitutes illegal obscenity.
The test is flawed in its application in Louisiana because the state does not specify which "community" will define those standards, said Obenberger.
However, Obenberger was not successful in the challenge. In October, State Judge Charles Porter ruled that the Louisiana obscenity law was not unconstitutional by virtue of being overbroad or vague. (See X-Press Report, "Community Standards Test Upheld," 10/7/05) In May, the Louisiana Supreme Court refused to hear the challenge. (See X-Press report, "State High Court Will Not Hear Challenge," 5/12/06)
The Saint Martin Parish Assistant District Attorney has said that he now will ask a judge to set the case for trial. Jacob and Burleigh face from six months to three years in jail if convicted on obscenity charges.
Recent information is from the Associated Press, 12/6/06
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FREEWAY MEDIAN PROPOSED FOR ADULT USE
PASADENA, CA -- A unanimous City Council here has adopted restrictive new adult business zoning regulations despite the likelihood of a court challenge. Included in the new rules is a 500-foot distance from residential areas for adult entertainment businesses instead of the older 250-foot requirement. What isn`t clear is what position the Council will take regarding the application already made by Greg Hakopyan for an exotic dance club along Foothill Boulevard at a former Shakey`s Pizza location. Mayor Bill Bogaard read a statement during the council meeting that the ordinance review was separate from Hakopyan`s review. However, the issue of that particular application -- which would be made impossible by a 500-foot distance requirement -- is highly contentious.
"The city`s taking a stance we can stand by," said Robert Meyers, who owns a business near the proposed site, "... as long as there are no exceptions for any pending applicant."
Hakopyan`s attorney, Roger Jon Diamond, has asked that the new rules not be applied to his client`s pending application, and has recently threatened legal action if the application is not favorably reviewed. (See X-Press report, "Dance Club Attorney Confronts Council," 9/15/06)
Shawn Bayliss, a land use consultant hired by Hakopyan, said of the approximately 30 locations identified under the new rules, only three seemed to be viable. And several were either homes or other unlikely locations.
"They`re not near a neighborhood; they are a neighborhood," he said. "You`ve proposed several single-family homes ... and what`s my favorite, you guys have proposed the median way of the 210 as a possible lot selection."
Recent information and quotes are from Kenneth Todd Ruiz, Pasadena Star News, 12/4/06
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FCC RESPONDS TO NETWORK FILINGS
NEW YORK, NY -- The Federal Communications Commission has filed its briefs to the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals here in response to the challenge brought by the major networks (except ABC) to the indecency rulings issued last March. (See X-Press report, "Networks File Challenges to FCC Indecency Rulings," 12/1/06) The FCC argues its indecency approach is a narrowly tailored means to meet a compelling government interest in protecting children because it channels indecent speech to late-night hours rather than banning it entirely.
The commission`s approach is well exemplified by its arguments related to the "fucking brilliant" comment uttered by U2 lead singer Bono during the January 2003, NBC Golden Globes awards show. The FCC received a flood of complaints from the Parents Television Council after the show. Initially the FCC decided that Bono`s words were not indecent because the singer was not describing "sexual or excretory organs or activities" but was using the word as an "adjective or expletive to emphasize an exclamation." However, the FCC later reversed its decision, stating that the "F-word" in any context "inherently has a sexual connotation."
In the current filing, the FCC asked the 2nd Circuit to uphold its "reasonable assessment" that contemporary standards, "no matter how loosely viewed, simply do not permit entertainers gratuitously to utter the "F-word" and "S-Word" in awards shows broadcast on national television at times when a substantial number of children are certain to be in the viewing audience.
The commission said the V-chip/ratings system, which broadcasters argue is the less restrictive means to protect children from content their parents don`t want them to be exposed to, would not have helped because the Billboard broadcasts were "misrated." And more broadly, the chip is ineffective and the ratings often inaccurate, and are not sufficiently understood by parents even when correctly applied.
The networks will now have a chance to respond.
Current information is from John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable, 12/6/06
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EXHAUSTED COUNTY GIVES UP ON LAWSUIT
CURRITUCK COUNTY, NC -- The Board of Commissioners here has announced plans to drop its lawsuit against Robert London, owner of Mermaids, an exotic dance club, who had been charged with violation of a conditional use permit by having topless dancing. The reason, county officials said, is that the public has grown frustrated with Currituck`s government over "lawsuits that have dragged on for too many years (in this case since the mid-1990`s) without settlement."
There is also a key piece of evidence missing. After the case went back and forth in the courts for years, in January of this year a Superior Court judge ruled that the case would have to go before the Board of Commissioners yet again. At that time, London`s attorney requested a verbatim account of certain 1999 hearings but a transcript of one of the commissioners` hearings was missing. John Morrison, the county`s former attorney said a clerk recalled that it had been borrowed by a lawyer but she couldn`t recall who it was that borrowed it.
"In essence," said the current County Attorney Kate McKenzie, "we would be starting all over." The county had already spent over $100,000 on the lawsuit.
The moral of this story is sometimes good things come to those who wait.
Information and quotes are from David Macaulay, The Daily Advance, 12/6/06
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SMALL TOWN PULLS PLUG ON PAY-PER-VIEW
SOUTH HOLLAND, ILL -- Subscribers to Comcast cable here in this small Chicago suburb have been cut off from the on-demand, pay-per-view features in the cable offerings. The village has blocked the on-demand option in order to prevent residents from viewing adult entertainment, relying on a franchise agreement the village signed with a former cable company in the 1990s. Included in the agreement is the following: "Franchisee shall not allow or make available for viewing any film rated `X` . or any channel which is primarily devoted to films that are obscene under community standards."
Harvey Grossman, legal director of the Illinois ACLU, said the franchise agreement isn`t on solid legal ground.
"The contract can`t waive the Constitution," he said. "This kind of censorship -- and it clearly is censorship -- raises very serious constitutional issues."
The ACLU said it would be interested in pursuing the issue of a resident approached it with a complaint.
Information and quotes are from Chicago Channel 5 (NBC), 12/5/06
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BOUTIQUE OWNERS SURPRISED BY PROTEST
ORANGEVALE, CA -- The owners of Cupid`s Love Boutique here were quick to back off on plans to stock sex toys, explicit DVDs and similar items on their store shelves after they arrived at the store on the morning of a planned grand opening (now delayed) to find two dozen mothers, with children in tow, waving picket signs and slowing traffic. Co-owner Sao Chang said that based on the community concerns, they will remove most of the novelties and DVDs they had planned to sell and open in a few days as a lingerie and shoe store.
"We don`t want to disturb this town, we just want to open a retail store," Chang said.
Traci Piazza, one of the leaders of the neighborhood protest, said she was told in October that Cupid`s Love Boutique would be a bookstore and lingerie shop. Later, a flier distributed in the area said that the store also would offer "exotic toys, adult costumes, lotions, DVDs and videos."
"The list of items does not concern me as much as the people who will be coming to shop for these items," Piazza said.
County officials have made clear that the promise by the owners to limit their inventory is strictly voluntary. The store can sell the sex toys, DVDs and other items as long as those items do not take up more than 25 percent of the store`s floor space, said Ted Wolter, chief of staff for Supervisor Roberta MacGlashan.
Information and quotes are from David Riche, Sacramento Bee, 12/2/06
Thanks to Steven Watanabe for the news alert.
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OTHER NEWS OF THE WEEK
In Bhopal, India (Bollywood) two performers may be charged with obscenity for kissing in a film.
Iran has blocked access to the popular video-sharing Web site YouTube.com.
Five Martinsville, Virginia firefighters will be forced to undergo lie-detector tests to see who ordered pay-per-view adult movies on their stationhouse TV.
Erwin Arnada, Editor of a tamed-down Indonesian version of Playboy Magazine, is on trial in South Jakarta District Court for "publishing indecent material," and could face 32 months in jail if found guilty.
UpComing Events
JAN 10-13, -- Adult Entertainment Expo, Sands Expo, Las Vegas
JAN 10-13 -- GayVN Expo, Sands Expo, Las Vegas
JAN 11-14 -- Taboo: The Naughty But Nice Sex Show, Vancouver
JAN 15-17 -- Internext , Mandalay Bay Resort, Las Vegas
JAN 21-22 -- International Lingerie Show, Miami
FEB 7-8 -- XBIZ Awards and Industry Conference, Hollywood
FEB 23-25 -- Sex and So Much More Show, Denver
MAR 23-25 -- ADULTCON, Los Angeles Convention Center
MAR 23-25 -- Taboo: The Naughty But Nice Sex Show, Red Deer, CN
APR 16-18 -- International Lingerie Show, Las Vegas
MAY 11-13 -- Sex and So Much More Show, Phoenix
JUNE 22-24 -- Erotica L.A., Los Angeles Convention Center
SEPT 21-23 -- ADULTCON, Los Angeles Convention Center
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