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Delivering Weekly Censorship Updates to the Adult Entertainment Industry Vol. X, No. 21, June 1, 2007 - A Member Service of the Free Speech Coalition Free Speech X-press is researched and edited by Scott Ross. Copyright 2007 Free Speech Coalition. Permission to reprint granted to FSC members; please give credit. Adult Novelties Never Intended as Target of Controversial Alabama Obscenity Law MONTGOMERY, AL - Two government officials responsible for the controversial adult bill banning the sale of sex toys have spoken out for the first time since the bill was passed in 1999, claiming that sex toys were never the focus of the anti-obscenity bill, first proposed in 1998. Sen. Tom Butler and Madison County District Attorney Tim Morgan told the Huntsville Times that the Anti-Obscenity Enforcement Act they helped bring about was originally designed to shut down strip clubs, and that the one line in the 14-page bill that refers to the sale of sex toys was included by legislative aids modeling the bill on similar legislation in other states. "Neither Tom Butler nor myself or anybody drafted the bill," said Morgan, adding that the task was the state's Legislative Reference Service's responsibility. Butler's and Morgan's comments were the result of media coverage following adult retailer Sherri William's recent appeal of the bill to the United States Supreme Court last week. "It's become quite an embarrassment to the state," Williams said, who argues that the bill is an unconstitutional intrusion into the bedroom. However, Morgan believes the law is constitutionally sound, and expects that the Court will likely decline to hear the case. The law has not been enforced since the bill's passing while the constitutionality of the law has been challenged in court. If the Supreme Court declines to hear the case, then as early as this summer sale of adult novelties in Alabama could lead to a maximum of one year in jail and a $10,000 fine. The law does not prohibit possession. That doesn't mean that Alabama's adult retailers need fear a crackdown. While Morgan acknowledges he would consider such a case, he doesn't plan to start a campaign against vendors of adult novelties. "Sex toys are not the highest priority on our radar right now." Georgia, Texas, Nebraska, Virginia, Mississippi and Louisiana maintain similar bans on the sale of sex toys. http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/news/1179738967311530.xml&coll=1 Coverage of Texas Sex Toy Arrest Questions Worthiness of Applicable Law LUBBOCK, TX - A local television station reports that community standards may be a little bit more progressive than the local district attorney thinks. The arrest of a Somethin' Sexy store clerk earlier this month for having sold two adult novelties to an undercover police officer has prompted a buzz within the town about whether or not the applicable law is archaic. According to KCBD, an NBC affiliate, Lubbock police executed a search warrant at Somethin' Sexy earlier this month, after receiving a complaint that the store was selling obscene devices. KCBD reports that "some people in town say enforcing this law seems like a waste of resources." Texas law defines sex toys as obscene, and furthermore considers the possession of six or more sex toys as evidence of intent to promote obscenity. "To me, a common sense approach would have been to come in and say, 'hey, they may do this stuff in Dallas, but this is Lubbock, Texas, and we'll give you 24 hours to get it off the shelves,'" said store owner Gary Evans. "I feel like I'm in 1690 Salem, Massachusetts and we're looking for a witch to burn." Evans reportedly asked to take the rap in lieu of his employee, but police refused. No court date has been set for the arrested store clerk, but if convicted, she would have to register as a sex offender. KCBD's online coverage of the story took the unusual step of including a link to the addresses of state legislators supposedly for the convenience of those who wish to complain about the law. http://www.kcbd.com/Global/story.asp?S=6555477&nav=3w6y SlaveSpace.com Conviction Upheld BROOKLYN - Glenn Marcus, the webmaster of extreme bondage site SlaveSpace.com, lost an attempt to have his March conviction on sex trafficking and labor charges overturned last week despite an acknowledgement by the presiding judge that his conviction represented a "novel application" of the relevant laws. Judge Allyne Ross of the Eastern District of New York rejected arguments by Marcus' attorneys Maurice Sercarz and Julia Gatto that because their client's conduct was part of a domestic relationship with the complaining witness, identified in court papers only as "Jodi," the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 was not applicable to the case because Congress did not intend for the statue to apply to private conduct and domestic relationships. "While this case undoubtedly presents a novel application of the forced labor and sex trafficking statutes, the evidence at trial was sufficient to show that defendant's conduct fell within the plain language of the statutes," Judge Ross wrote in a 42-page opinion. "The defendant argues that the existence of a prior consensual relationship between the defendant and Jodi in which the infliction of punishment and pain was part of their mutual sexual gratification makes it impossible to determine whether the defendant abused Jodi to compel the performance of a commercial sex act," Judge Ross wrote. Ross also rejected the defense argument that the term "commercial sex act" did not apply when the defendant was being paid for appearing in photographs of sex acts, rather than being paid for the sex acts themselves. "The court acknowledges that the issue of whether the government proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant used non-consensual force, fraud or coercion to cause Jodi to engage in a commercial sex act is difficult and complicated. However, this was precisely the question that the jury was charged with resolving, and the evidence was adequate to support its conclusion," Judge Ross wrote. Jodi was in a consensual relationship with Marcus from 1998 to October 1999, living with him and working for him. Among her duties were building and maintaining Marcus' Web site, which included photos of her engaged in submissive play. Jodi testified that in an incident that occurred in October 1999, Marcus handcuffed her to a wall. She convinced another woman to release her, but Marcus was alerted and had her put on the wall again. He stuffed a whiffle ball inside her mouth, shut her lips with surgical needles, and placed a hood over her head before whipping her with a cane and having sex with her. He then handcuffed her to a flat board and continued to "brutalize" her. Jodi said the incident left her terrified and fearful that she could not leave the relationship. Due to threats by Marcus that her BDSM pictures would be sent to her family, Jodi kept in contact with Marcus until 2003, trying to prevent the pictures' spread. She finally went to the authorities in 2003. Sercarz said that he would appeal the decision to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. "I think this is a case calling for lenity and a narrow reading of the statute," Sercarz told the New York Law Journal. "If you read the statute as broadly as the government would have you read it, it is going to subsume within it a lot of day-to-day, innocent conduct. It seems to me there is no federal interest being vindicated here." Marcus faces up to 30 years in prison as a result of his conviction. He was originally charged with obscenity charges in addition the sex trafficking and labor laws, but was not convicted on those charges. The case is U.S. v. Marcus, 05-CR-457. http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1179997531994&pos=ataglance Monroe County Libraries Ban Adult Sites On Computers ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Following a recent threat of funding cuts, the Monroe County library system has agreed to block all adult websites from being viewed on public library computers, according to an XBIZ report. This has sparked another censorship argument between county officials and the library board. In March, the county was essentially forced to use Internet filters, following a similar budget-cut threat by County Executive Maggie Brooks. County spokesman John Durso told XBIZ that the county libraries rely almost entirely upon the $6.5 million in discretionary funding from Monroe County, funding which officials have the option of whether or not to continue each year. Patrons older than 17 once had the opportunity to request the filters be shut off while viewing, but with the new policy, users must submit a written request to the library's director, and - once he or she deems the site appropriate - the user can view the website in question. These policies all were drafted with minors in mind. "People are coming into that library prior to this policy being changed, accessing pornography and putting children, families and other library patrons at risk," Brooks said. "And that's unacceptable in a public institution funded by taxpayer money." Adult industry lawyer Joe Obenberger told XBIZ that there are less restrictive ways to prevent children from viewing adult material at the library. "If the argument that blocking adult access to websites is necessary to protect children walking by," he said, "the only rational solution consistent with freedom of thought and expression is to put adult computers in a place where children are prohibited, to place computers facing away from walls with partitions between them, or to put the users in carrels or booths that block the view of persons who may be offended or arguably injured by exposure to sexual depictions." Board members say they are not entirely sure, however, how to implement this new policy - town libraries already have Internet policies in place, and it's unclear how they all will mesh - and how librarians will decide what is, and isn't, inappropriate for viewing. http://xbiz.com/news_piece.php?id=23259 The New Golden Rule By Matt Gray Assembly Bill 1551, by Assemblyman Chuck Calderon (D-Whittier), has met with a number of delays and may now have its first policy committee hearing as early as June 11th in the Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee. This bill, you'll recall, blames adult entertainment for crimes against women and children, blight, reduced property values, and seeks to impose multiple taxes upon adult products to ameliorate those fabricated claims. From my vantage point, I cannot help but feel there is something ground zero'ish about the idea behind this legislation. Think back a few years; remember when there was no such thing as a "carjacking?" One day it happened on the east cost and news networks throughout the nation broadcast the story. Within days, there were copycat carjackings in numerous other states. In this age of technology, when information travels at the speed of light, ideas reach a much broader audience and the lead time for action is dramatically reduced. With that in mind, a ridiculous idea that gets traction in a distant jurisdiction, may soon be embraced where you live. Joseph Goebbels was Nazi Germany's Propaganda Minister. An entire country (and more), willingly committed heinous crimes against humanity based upon his fundamental strategy: If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it (and take action). One way or another, history finds ways to repeat itself. For better or worse, ideas can catch-on. In Policyland (not the happiest place on earth), ridiculous ideas are often proposed with full recognition that they may at first be shot down and killed. They are called "Statement Bills," or policy pieces which are intended to provide a platform from which to expound fundamentalist ideals. These proposals need not be based upon any truth or degree of popularity to be promoted, but they do get headlines and attention. If it dies, then the next time comes around and the idea is proposed again (but in a slightly different way). The proponents have had more time to flesh out concerns and look at better ways to craft their message, find more news stories to support their argument, and even motivate a more active voter base. If this doesn't work, there is always next time. They keep repeating the message. Gradually, some portion of the original propaganda catches on and becomes adopted as policy. Through an unrelenting, very concerted effort, a nationwide trend is emerging that should immediately concern you. While it is nothing new that a minority segment of society wants sexual expression locked up, and controlled or extinguished, it is new that public policy makers are actually paying any attention to them-and taking action. In part the attention trend is due to the uncertain political parties' response to waning membership numbers. The parties are selectively discarding their traditional values to appeal to more mainstream voters who are gravitating towards a decline to state registration status. The republicans are becoming "compassionate", and the Democrats are becoming tougher on crime - and soon they'll all be Demopublicans (not for a true Republic, but for demonstration purposes only). But the attention trend is also due to these fundamentalist special interests promoting their own candidates to higher and higher elected positions, so their self-loathing, distrustful, and fear based politics can permeate public office. As the 2008 elections draw near, the adult entertainment industry is on the sidelines looking at which candidates are the lesser of the evils and voting (or not), on what they are given. For the fundamentalist special interests, they have their people in the race. The biting irony here is that our country was founded upon escape from religious oppression; and yet here we are, being oppressed by religious fundamentalists. In our country's short life, the religiously liberated have sought to impose upon everyone the alcohol prohibition, as well as censorship over rock and roll, footloose dancing, beachwear and pants versus skirts for women, and of course adult entertainment. If you sit back and do nothing, then I promise you it will only get worse. Ohio just passed a law which imposes no-touching restrictions, closes all bookstores and juice bars at midnight, at liquor clubs girls have to cover-up at midnight, and even casual contact can result in 30 days in jail or a $500 fine. It is expected to pop-up soon in Kentucky and Florida. Texas just imposed an entrance fee (tax) on clubs, and is trying to enforce a whopping 1500 foot buffer zone between specified adult businesses and churches, schools, etc. California has AB 1551, and earlier this year we put the kibosh on an idea to prohibit anyone under the age of 21 from performing nude. So here it is, the New Golden Rule: If you allow oppression and censorship to happen to another person, you ultimately allow it to happen to you or those you care about. When you see "it" rearing its head, take immediate action to beat it down so the disaster does not spread. But we cannot prepare at the eleventh hour. So today, right now, reach out to EVERYONE you know who shares your views on protecting free speech, get them in contact with Free Speech Coalition and sign up as an advocate. Then enlist them to in turn go to everyone they know to do the same. The defeat of California's AB 1551, political action in upcoming elections, and protecting adult entertainment in every other state, is a 'do or die' situation and if the adult entertainment industry does not fully come together to flex its political muscle and fully focus its energy, then the fundamentalists will continue with their campaign of oppression. ============================================================== Matt Gray is a senior lobbyist for Capital Alliance, a Sacramento based lobbying and government strategies firm. He can be reached at 916-444-5551, or by e-mail: matt@thecapitalalliance.com Email Xpress@freespeechcoalition.com for more information. Because of 2257 litigation, it's critical that we have your company's information complete in our database. Are you SURE your company's information is complete? Email UpdateInfo@FreeSpeechCoalition.com to update your company's information now. NOTE: The data we're tracking, related to 2257, has changed. Please update NOW. JUNE 7-10 - Cybernet Expo, Tampa Bay, Florida JUNE 22-24 - Erotica L.A., Los Angeles Convention Center JULY 16-18 - ANE - Adult Novelty Expo, Universal City, CA AUGUST 27-30 - Annual Gentlemen's Club Owners Expo, Las Vegas, NV AUGUST 27-30 - STOREROTICA Convention and Tradeshow, Las Vegas, NV SEPT 21-23 - ADULTCON, Los Angeles Convention Center Real success is finding your lifework in the work that you love. -- David McCullough (1933 - ) It's just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up. -- Muhammed Ali
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