FANS SAY: “STOP STRIPPING OUR LIBERTIES!”
        In a trial run at a recent industry trade show, Free Speech Coalition launched its first-ever “Action Center,” a booth where industry supporters could fax a letter to Congress with just the click of a mouse. Over the course of the 4-day AVN Adult Entertainment Expo, more than four hundred people took a moment to express an opinion to their representatives in Congress.
        You can, too! Visit our website at www.nostrippingliberty.org and learn why the SAFE Act, a bipartisan bill now before Congress, will restore privacy rights and sunset out the worst parts of the PATRIOT Act, as Congress originally intended.
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CHARGES DISMISSED IN OBSCENITY CASE
PITTSBURG, PA -- U.S. District Judge Gary Lancaster has dismissed all charges in the federal government’s obscenity case against Rob Black and Lizzie Borden of Extreme Associates. Lancaster said the government’s anti-obscenity laws are unconstitutional.
        “The nation’s obscenity laws cannot stand in light of Lawrence,” Lancaster wrote, referring to Lawrence vs. Texas, the case in which the Supreme Court struck down a Texas anti-sodomy law. The Lawrence decision, Lancaster wrote, “can be reasonably interpreted as holding that public morality is not a legitimate state interest sufficient to justify infringing on adult, private, consensual, sexual conduct even if that conduct is deemed offensive to the general public’s sense of morality.”
        “The federal obscenity statutes burden an individual’s fundamental right to possess, read, observe, and think about what he chooses in the privacy of his own home by completely banning the distribution of obscene materials,” wrote Lancaster in terms resembling points made by defense attorney H. Louis Sirkin.
        Lancaster also said that federal anti-obscenity laws were over-broad. The government had stated that their interest was to prevent minors and unwitting adults from being exposed to obscene materials. But, as applied to the Extreme Associates case, said Lancaster, children and unwitting adults are adequately protected. To receive the materials, one would have to access the defendants’ Web site and join the members-only section, which requires a name, address and credit card.
        The Extreme Associates case is considered a major test case of federal obscenity laws. U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan said that she may appeal the decision.
        “We continue to believe that the federal obscenity statutes are valid and constitutional,” Buchanan said.
From Jake Tapper, ABC News, 1/24/05
http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/Business/story?id=433956&page=1
And from Stan Smith, The Progressive Review, 1/24/05
http://prorev.com/2005/01/local-heroesfederal-judge-strikes-down.htm
And from The L.A. Daily News, 1/24/05
http://myac.yellowbrix.com/pages/myac/Story.nsp?
story_id=63832453&ID=myac&scategory=Entertainment&
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FORNICATION LAW STRUCK DOWN
VIRGINIA -- In another case suggesting the reach of precedent set by the U.S. Supreme Court in Lawrence vs Texas, the state Supreme Court here has invalidated Virginia’s 200-year-old law against fornication (fornication is defined as sexual intercourse by an unmarried person with any other person). Given the precedent of Lawrence, said the court, the state’s criminal ban on fornication could not survive.
        Of course, criminal fornication laws, while still on the books in some states, are relics of the past and are not enforced. However, they can come into play in other ways. In the Virginia case, Muguet Martin asked for damages against her ex-lover, Kristopher Ziherl, for knowingly transmitting genital herpes to her through sexual intercourse, while failing to inform her of his condition. Ziheri responded by citing established precedent (in Virginia) that one can not collect damages for injuries incurred during the commission of a crime, i.e. fornication, any more than, say, a bank robber could recover if his colleague broke his nose in the course of their joint bank robbery. The Virginia Supreme Court, by striking down the fornication law, allowed Martin’s case against Ziheri to go forward.
        According to the Virginia Supreme Court in this opinion, there is no “relevant distinction” between a law banning sodomy -- such as the one that Lawrence struck down -- and a law banning fornication. Both “improperly abridge a personal relationship that is within the liberty interest of persons to choose.”
From Joanna Grossman, FindLaw, 1/25/05
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/grossman/20050125.html
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DANCE LAW TOO VAGUE, JUDGES SAY
LAS VEGAS, NV -- District Judge Sally Loehrer has upheld municipal Judge Betsy Kolkowski’s ruling dismissing charges against 13 Crazy Horse Too dancers, both judges agreeing that the city’s exotic dance code is vague and therefore unconstitutional. City attorneys had difficulty explaining what touching was legal and what kind of touching was illegal under the law that forbids “fondling or caressing to sexually arouse a person.” If four city attorneys can’t explain the law, asked Judge Kolkowski, how could they expect dancers to do so?
        The vague dance code language comes from a U.S. 9th Circuit opinion which specified that “fondling and caressing” in order to sexually arouse a patron could be banned. Las Vegas followed that model in drafting their code. However, the 9th Circuit did not go any further toward defining exactly what those acts were or weren’t.
        Would a dancer’s hand on the shoulder or hand of the patron be considered illegal if the patron became aroused? asked Judge Loehrer. Essentially, said the Judge, any touch that aroused would be illegal under the ordinance.
From Matt Pordum, LAS VEGAS SUN, 1/24/05
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/lv-crime/2005/jan/24/518173209.html
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“SAVING PRIVATE RYAN” NOT INDECENT, SAYS FCC
WASHINGTON, DC -- Three members of the five-member Federal Communications Commission have voted to deny action on complaints by the watchdog group Parents Television Council that television stations had violated decency standards by airing the movie “Saving Private Ryan,” “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me,” and a variety of episodes in popular shows like “Friends” and “The Simpsons.” The FCC decision will become final once the remaining two commissioners cast their votes.
        “FCC Chairman Michael Powell’s Commission has sanctioned the following content during the so-called family hour: a high school teacher refers to one of his students as ‘a big dick’; criminals hire a prostitute to have sex with a horse; and jokes about pedophilia and Michael Jackson’s penis,” said Tim Winter, executive director of the PTC. “By what community standard is it not patently offensive during the family hour to broadcast these things?”
        “The FCC had 36 individual opportunities to provide clarity and direction -- both to families and to broadcasters, but they chose not to do so,” Winter complained.
        Last fall, sixty-six ABC affiliates refused to show “Saving Private Ryan,” believing that they might be fined by the FCC.
From The Associated Press, 1/25/05
http://www.thenewmexicochannel.com/entertainment/4128956/detail.html
And from Reuters, 1/25/05
http://news.com.com/FCC+Saving+Private+Ryan+not+indecent/
2100-1026_3-5549428.html?tag=nefd.top
And from David Kaplan, Media Post, 1/26/05
http://www.mediapost.com/dtls_dsp_news.cfm?newsID=288920
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FCC CHAIR TO RESIGN
WASHINGTON, DC -- Federal Communications Commission Chair Michael K. Powell has announced he will step down from his position in March. He said he wanted to spend more time with his family.
        Powell, who has touted himself as a “big believer in the First Amendment,” has been much in the news during his tenure for policies that have chilled freedom of expression in the broadcast industry. Fines for so-called indecent programming exceeded $7.7 million last year, compared to $48,000 imposed the year before Powell became chairman.
        A successor has not been named. The Parents Television Council (see above story) has recommended FCC Commissioner Kevin Martin for the post. Martin, along with fellow Commissioner Michael Copps, dissented from the FCC’s recent ruling clearing “Saving Private Ryan” and 36 others from indecency charges.
From David Kaplan, Media Post 1/24/05, 1/26/05
http://www.mediapost.com/dtls_dsp_news.cfm?newsID=288920
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SPONGEBOB RECRUITED FOR PRO-GAY VIDEO
WASHINGTON, DC -- The religious right has stepped in it again. This time, Dr. James C. Dobson, the founder of Focus on Family, asked guests at a black-tie dinner for members of Congress if they realized that the popular cartoon character SpongeBob had been enlisted in a “pro-homosexual video.”
        The predictable result of this disclosure was a flurry of media reports mocking Dodson’s comments. Oh, no, claimed Dodson, misunderstanding the sniggering articles.
        “I was said to be on the warpath for my dislike for SpongeBob -- who supposedly has homosexual characteristics. I said no such thing.”
        What Dodson actually said, according to Focus on Family’s website, is this:
        “[The liberal group] We Are Family Foundation has produced a video slated for distribution to 61,000 public and private elementary schools; it features SpongeBob, Big Bird, Barney and others singing the old disco hit ‘We Are Family’ and spreading a message of ‘diversity and unity.’ And therein lies the rub -- albeit well-concealed. While words like ‘diversity’ and ‘unity’ sound harmless -- even noble -- enough, the reality is they are often used by gay activists.…” etc.
        We’re glad they cleared that up.
From David D. Kirkpatrick, The New York Times, 1/20/05
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/20/politics/20sponge.html?
ex=1106974800&en=5f434f662b80fafe&ei=5070&oref=login
And from Gary Schneeberger, (Focus on Family) 1/25/05
http://family.org/cforum/feature/a0035309.cfm
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GRAPHIC DOCUMENTARY A HIT AT FESTIVAL
PARK CITY, UT  -- ”Inside Deep Throat,” to be released soon, is Universal’s first NC-17 film since 1990’s “Henry & June.” Mark Caro, entertainment reporter for the Chicago Tribune, says Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato’s documentary chronicling the lasting cultural impact of the 1972 adult movie, was the most “buzzed-about” premiere of the Sundance Film Festival’s opening weekend.
        Audience members booed prosecutors and censorship advocates during the film, says Caro, and they cheered Harry Reems -- the film includes coverage of the Reems obscenity trial -- particularly when an end title noted that Reems is presently a real estate broker in nearby Park City. Reems, in person, went to the stage for the post-screening discussion and got a standing ovation.
From Mark Caro, The Chicago Tribune, 1/24/05
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/
chi-0501240123jan24,1,4586345.story?coll=chi-leisuretempo-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true

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