COME CELEBRATE FREE SPEECH IN CALIFORNIA
        It’s time to mark your calendar to attend our acclaimed lobbying training program, Celebrate Free Speech Lobbying Days (CFSLD), next spring in Sacramento, California. The dates are Monday and Tuesday, April 18 and 19, and as always, space is limited.
        The two-day event will include a full day of political action training for participants, as well as our popular cocktail reception for legislators and staff. In addition, this year we are adding a Community Forum to the schedule, where the public will be invited to join adult industry professionals and speakers from the Capitol in a discussion of issues of concern regarding free speech and adult entertainment.
        Deadline for applications is Friday, March 18, 2005.  Call the Legislative Affairs Office at 1-800-476-7813 or e-mail Sunlove@direcway.com for more information and an application form.
        CFSLD continues to be an inspiring and empowering activity for those who attend and is a great staff development opportunity for industry leaders. Don’t miss it in 2005!
__________________________________________________________

SENTENCING GUIDELINES NOW ADVISORY ONLY
WASHINGTON, DC – The Supreme Court has ruled on the constitutionality of the federal sentencing guidelines put in place two decades ago. The much anticipated decision took an unusual form. One group of five justices formed a majority by deciding that the current guidelines system violated defendants’ rights to trial by jury because it gave judges the power to make factual findings (often based on pre-sentence investigations) that increase sentences beyond the maximum that the jury’s findings alone would support.
        A different set of justices -- with the exception of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who was in the majority in both cases – joined to form the second part of the decision, having to do with the remedy for the situation. The second group of justices said the sentencing guidelines could be salvaged if they were seen as advisory rather than mandatory.
        Judges “must consult” the guidelines and “take them into account,” Justice Breyer said for the majority in the second portion of the decision. However, the guidelines will be advisory only, with sentences to be reviewed on appeal for “reasonableness.”
        The decision was also interesting because of the mix of justices on each part of the decision, which did not conform to the conservative/moderate fault lines that often divide close decisions on the court.
        The sentencing guidelines are grimly interesting to some in the adult industry by virtue of the threatened prosecutions by the Justice Department combined with the fact that Congress has raised penalties for obscenity convictions in the guidelines to draconian levels.
From Linda Greenhouse, The New York Times, 1/12/04
 http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/12/politics/12cnd-scot.html?hp&ex=1105592400&en=34b50d361c504626&ei=5094&partner=homepage
__________________________________________________________

LABELING RULE OF CAN SPAM ACT SHOWS TEETH
LAS VEGAS, NV -- U.S. District Court Chief Judge Philip Pro has granted a preliminary injunction requested by the Federal Trade Commission, shutting down Global Net Solutions, Open Space Enterprises, Southlake Group and Reflected Networks of Las Vegas as well as Global Net Ventures Ltd. of London and Wedlake Ltd. of Riga, Latvia. It was the first action brought by the FTC under the Adult Labeling Rule of the Can Spam Act. The action freezes assets of the companies and prohibits them from engaging in deceptive practices.
        The FTC alleges the companies sent e-mails containing adult materials without the SEXUALLY EXPLICIT warning in the subject line required under the Adult Labeling Rule. In addition, the complaint charges the e-mails contained sexually explicit material within the initial viewable areas of the e-mails and failed to include an opt-out clause, all violations of the Can Spam Act.
        In addition, the FTC says that the defendants violated the Act by falsely stating that membership to their Web sites was free. According to the FTC, by the time consumers realized that the defendants charged a fee for their Web sites, consumers had already given them their e-mail addresses.
        According to the FTC, the network spammed “hundreds of thousands” of consumers with sexually explicit or sexually suggestive e-mails, all without the consumers’ consent.
        Frank Cremen, who represents the companies named in the complaint, said that his clients have “no quarrel” complying with the law and that the spamming had stopped before the FTC filed its complaint.
From the Chicago Tribune, 1/12/05
http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/chi-0501120275jan12,1,6453324.story?coll=chi-technology-hed
And from Roy Mark, Internet News, 1/12/05
http://www.internetnews.com/ec-news/article.php/3457841
__________________________________________________________

PUBLIC TV EXECUTIVE FLEES HOME
LONDON, ENGLAND -- Roly Keating, an executive with the public service television network BBC, has received credible death threats and has been forced into hiding, along with his family, as a result of his decision to screen “Jerry Springer–The Opera.” The musical has angered Christians with its “blasphemous” content and raw language. The homes of six other BBC executives were reportedly under guard as well, following similar threats, including the director of television, creative director and BBC1 controller.
        The show, based on the infamous American talk show, features dancing Ku Klux Klan members and a Jesus confessing he is “a bit gay.”  It attracted a record 45,000 complaints before its broadcast.
        “The program is crude, offensive and blasphemous. It is defamatory to Jesus Christ,” said Mark Wheedon, pastor of Worthing Tabernacle in West Sussex.
        Conservative deputy leader Michael Ancram was critical of the BBC:
        “You choose to go to the theatre. That is where you go to see freedom of expression. Public service television has another duty and that is to exercise a degree of caution. What [the BBC] is trying to do is get people to watch it because they think it is going to shock them. I don’t think it is the duty of the BBC to do that.”
From Andrew Wilks and Amanda Perthen, London Daily Mail, 1/9/05
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=
333419&in_page_id=1770&in_a_source=&ct=5
__________________________________________________________

HOME VISITS INTIMIDATING FOR DANCERS
POMONA, CA – A police investigator here has been making visits to the homes of exotic dancers, purportedly to verify their addresses as part of the process of applying for adult-oriented business employee permits.
        “They’re trying to scare the girls away.” Said Calvin Wong, part owner of an exotic dance club called the Strip Joint. “You would think they have better things to do.”
        Attorney Roger Jon Diamond recently filed claims on behalf of the Strip Joint and Babydolls, asserting that the police are not only intimidating the dancers but are violating their First Amendment rights and invading their right to privacy under the state Constitution.
        Diamond said the visits only serve to embarrass and ostracize dancers before their families, neighbors and even employers who at times aren’t aware of the second jobs the women have or are seeking.
        “A lot of them have day jobs,” Diamond said. “They don’t want their employers to know they dance at night for a little extra money. We’re not talking about terrorists. They’re nude dancers.”
        The visits are needed to be sure the applicants are “in fact giving truthful and accurate information” to the city, according to City Attorney Arnold Alvarez-Glasman.
From Monica Rodriguez, San Bernardino Sun, 1/9/05
http://www.sbsun.com/Stories/0,1413,208~12588~2643341,00.html
__________________________________________________________

DANCER WINS ACQUITTAL
BIBB COUNTY, GA – Exotic dancer Lakeisha Howard has been acquitted by a jury here of the change of masturbation for hire. It took the jury just 14 minutes to return the verdict, after which Solicitor Otis Scarbary announced plans to dismiss charges against the remaining 14 nude dancers arrested during a 2003 raid at Club Exotica. Last April, Valise Dean was acquitted on the same charge after a judge determined there was not enough evidence to take the case to the jury.
        “We’ve put two cases before the court and didn’t get the verdicts we were hoping for,” Scarbary said.
        In the meantime, a civil case is pending in federal court, where Club Exotica attorneys are claiming that the county’s adult entertainment ordinance -- which the County Commission used to strip the club of its liquor license -- is unconstitutional.
        Club Exotica attorney Cary Wiggins called the news of the verdict and dismissals “wonderful,” and said the dropped criminal cases will likely help the club’s civil case.
        However, Hale Almand, who represents the county in both its federal and superior court cases against the club, said Monday that the solicitor’s decision will not affect the county’s drive to keep liquor out of Club Exotica.
From Sharon E. Crawford, Travis Fain, Macon Telegraph, 1/11/04
http://www.macon.com/mld/telegraph/10614874.htm
__________________________________________________________

GUILTY PLEA  IN MISDEMEANOR OBSCENITY CASE
BARBOURVILLE, KY -- Jeree Mills, owner of an adult store called Dreamworld, has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of distributing obscene material. Her sentence is a fine of $250 and 90 days in jail, however she got probation for a year on the jail time.
        Also, Mills will remain in business, although she did agree agreed to close the store between 2 AM and 2 PM Sundays, in order to include the hours of morning church services.
        At the time of her arrest, along with employee Belinda Brown, whose charges were dropped, a store representative said Mills would fight the obscenity charge because Dreamworld’s sales are protected under the U.S. Constitution. However, Mills ultimately decided to plead guilty because her attorney, H. Louis Sirkin of Cincinnati, and Knox County Attorney Charley Green Dixon, worked out an agreement both sides could live with.
        Mills said she probably would have been convicted by a local jury but would have won on appeal. The Constitution protects her right to sell adult material and the right of adults to buy it, Mills said. Dreamworld opened in 2004 as the largest and most visible of its type in southern Kentucky, creating controversy and protest from church groups and nearby residents.
        The Rev. Leonard Lester, who pastors a Barbourville church and helped lead opposition to Mills’ store, said he was satisfied Mills had been prosecuted as far as the law allows. But he said church members would push legislators to raise the stakes on distributing obscene material, making it a felony.
From Bill Estep, Lexington Herald-Leader, 1/13/04
http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/10632398.htm
__________________________________________________________

UpComing Events

MAR 18-20 – Adult Expo USA, L.A., CA http://www.adultexpousa.com/

APR 18-19 – Celebrate Free Speech Lobbying Days, Sacramento, CA, 800-476-7813

JUNE 10-12 – Erotica L.A., www.Erotica-LA.com

JULY 18-20 – AVN Adult Novelty Expo, Pasadena, CA. www.adultnoveltyexpo.com

JULY 26-28, -- VSDA's Home Entertainment 2005, Bellagio Resort, Las Vegas, NV, http://show.vsdahomeentertainment.com

AUG 5-6 – Internext, Hollywood, FL., www.Internext-expo.com