Don’t forget: Deadline for FSC Board of Directors Nominations is November 15th.

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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 hugely 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 incredibly inspiring and empowering activity for those who attend and is a great staff development opportunity for industry leaders. Don’t miss it in 2005!   __________________________________________________________

General Membership Meeting December 2.
The next General Membership Meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. (PDT) at the Warner Center Marriott in Woodland Hills, on Thursday, December 2, 2004. The new Executive Director, Michelle L. Freridge, Legislative Affairs Director Kat Sunlove, and members of the Board of Directors will meet and greet the membership over hors d’oeuvres and drinks.
        First Amendment Attorney and FSC Board Chairman Jeffrey J. Douglas will give a presentation on Title 18, Section 2257, the newly expanded federal labeling law regulations, and will offer an updated model’s release form. Jeffrey will be available for questions afterwards. Dr. Sharon Mitchell from the Adult Industry Medical (AIM) Health Care Foundation is also on the agenda to offer a presentation and facilitate discussion about HIV self-regulation in the industry.
        Members will get a sneak preview of the slate of nominees running for the Board of Directors and will be able to cast their vote at the meeting. New and continuing supporters will have the opportunity to pay their dues, make a donation, and sign up to work on a variety of projects in 2005. Please RSVP to Neva at 818-348-9373 or by e-mail at Free_Speech@sbcglobal.net.
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NEW ATTORNEY GENERAL NOMINATED
WASHINGTON, DC – President Bush has nominated White House counsel Alberto Gonzales to replace John Ashcroft as attorney general. Gonzales is a much less controversial figure for the post, which should ease Senate confirmation. Senator Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), a liberal member of the Judiciary Committee, has welcomed the appointment of “someone less polarizing” to the position.
        “We will have to review his record very carefully, but I can tell you already he’s a better candidate than John Ashcroft,” said Schumer.
        The ACLU has taken no position on Gonzales, but said they expected the Senate to closely examine issues stemming from positions Gonzales defended as White House counsel on detaining terrorism suspects and waiver of international treaties providing protections to prisoners of war.
From Scott Lindlaw, Associated Press, 11/10/04
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-4607670,00.html
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DECISION NEAR IN “SECONDARY EFFECTS” CASE
 INDIANAPOLIS, IN -- Federal Judge Sarah Evans Barker has heard arguments and testimony here in a lawsuit brought by Danny Embry, the owner of New Albany DVD, an adult video store, against a New Albany business ordinance that seemed to unconstitutionally target his store.
        We have been following this case in X-Press since April. New Albany DVD opened for a few hours on February 19, 2004, after it had requested a final inspection of its remodeled building by a city of New Albany building inspector. The inspector came to the store that morning but for some reason refused to inspect it. The store opened on schedule anyway, but that evening the City Council passed a moratorium on new adult businesses, and city ordered the store closed. A few days later the store sued in federal court, after which the city responded by arguing it couldn’t sue because the business didn’t have a certificate to operate from the State. The business then got an operating certificate from the state; however, the city responded by enacting a new ordinance, including zoning requirements which meant the store couldn’t operate at its established location, which is near a church and houses.
        In what may be the final and decisive hearing on constitutional issues in the case, dueling experts offered testimony. Social psychologist Daniel Linz said that New Albany did not have a reasonable basis -- relying as they did on studies in distant cities, involving different kinds of stores -- for concluding that the store location would cause harmful secondary effects.
        Professor Richard McCleary, however, said studies of the harmful effects of adult businesses from other communities consistently showed increased crime in the businesses’ neighborhoods.
        Adult industry analysts have argued that the secondary effects studies used in adult zoning ordinances are usually flawed.
From Ben Zion Hershberg, Louisville Courier-Journal, 11/9/04
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NETWORK TAKES ON FCC RULING
WASHINGTON, DC -- Viacom, owner of the CBS network, has challenged the FCC’s ruling levying $550,000 in fines on CBS-owned stations for showing Janet Jackson’s bared breast during a half-second of the February Super Bowl show. Viacom suggests the Commission has run amok, “no longer recognizing any meaningful limits to its ability to regulate broadcast content.” The $550,000 proposed fine for “an unplanned, fleeting exposure of a woman’s breast is anything but a ‘restrained’ or ‘cautious’ approach to enforcement,” Viacom said.
        Viacom can go to federal appeals court if the FCC stands firm. Some constitutional experts say the case could reach the Supreme Court. Martin Garbus, a partner at Davis & Gilbert in New York, thinks it’s “very unlikely” the current Supreme Court would side with Viacom.
        However, Jonathan L. Katz, president of the Free Speech Coalition of the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia, believes that current indecency rules are “entirely unconstitutional” and that Viacom has a case.
        “All we saw is a brief glimpse of a breast. That’s not enough to justify these chilling fines,” said Katz.
From Michael McCarthy, USA Today, 11/9/04
http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2004-11-09-viacom_x.htm
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CITY AVOIDS LAWSUIT, ROLLS BACK ADULT FEES
DALLAS, TX – A Plan to lower licensing fees for adult businesses here has raised controversy. However, the city has little choice. When city officials increased the sexually oriented business licensing fees in 2002, they received bad information from a consultant, said Mayor Laura Miller. By law, the city isn’t allowed to collect more money in a fee than it takes to do the inspection and give the business a license.
        When permit fees for sexually oriented businesses were raised from $750 to $4,800, compared with $1,400 for dance halls, the discrepancy prompted several clubs, including the Million Dollar Saloon and Baby Dolls, to sue the city. The case has now been dropped with the understanding that the city will roll back the increase.
        Some residents say council members gave in to pressure too quickly, and that the city is easing up on a necessarily tough policy. But council member Ed Oakley pointed out that zoning regulations, not licensing fees, should be used to regulate adult businesses.
        “Whether you’re getting a building permit, paying a water meter fee, or getting a dance hall license, you’ve got to be fair,” Oakley said.
        The timing off the rollback was also questioned, coming at about the same time as a controversial Texas Adult Entertainment Awards show slated at the convention center, to be hosted by Ron Jeremy.
From The Dallas Morning News, 11/10/04
http://yellowbrix.com/pages/marketsite/Story.nsp?story_id=59990951&ID=
marketsite&scategory=Entertainment&
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DANCE CLUBS AGREE TO CLOSE IN ELEVEN YEARS

OAKLAND PARK, FL – An agreement has been reached here between city officials and two exotic dance clubs, Solid Gold and Scores, in which the clubs agreed to close down in eleven years. In the meantime, they are free to offer full nudity, alcohol and contact between dancers and patrons, without having to comply with a strict new law. The agreement comes some months after the clubs filed lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the new ordinance. The agreement also states that the clubs must reimburse the city for legal expenses fighting the lawsuits.
        Solid Gold Attorney Ira Marcus called the settlement a “huge victory” for the clubs.
        “Now we have the right to offer alcohol, nudity and full contact for the next 11 years,” he said. “We were obviously right that the city’s laws were legally deficient.”
        Commissioner Don Migliore said he pushed to have the clubs close in seven years, but agreed to the current settlement to end the lengthy standoff.
        “I’m settling with the understanding that these clubs will eventually go away,” he said. “This has been a very difficult situation that has put stress on all of us.”
From Daniella Aird, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 11/5/04
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-cstrip05nov05,0,5831886.story?coll=sfla-news-broward
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STATIONS AXE “SAVING PRIVATE RYAN”
BROADCAST TV, USA – Fearing fines from the FCC, at least nineteen ABC affiliates decided not to screen the film Saving Private Ryan as part of scheduled Veterans Day commemorations.
        One of the stations who decided to pull the Oscar-winning film was Jackson, Mississippi affiliate WAPT.
        “This decision is directly related to the Janet Jackson Super Bowl indecency flap,” said Stuart Kellogg, WAPT’s general manager. This movie has the f-word 48 times.  Steven Spielberg will not allow it to be edited. We think this puts us in danger of massive fines or other punitive action.”
        “It clearly would have been our preference to run the movie,” said Ray Cole, president of Citadel Communications, owners of three stations across the Midwest, none of which will now be showing Spielberg’s film. “We think it’s a patriotic, artistic tribute to our fighting forces.”
From the Mississippi Clarion-Ledger, 11/10/04
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=
/20041110/FEAT05/411100329/1023
And from The Guardian, 11/11/04
http://film.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,12589,1348742,00.html  

DEC 2 – FSC General Membership Meeting, Warner Center Marriott, 5:30 PM, Woodland Hills, CA

JAN 4-6 – Internext, Mandalay Bay Resort, Las Vegas, NV
  http://www.internext-expo.com/.html

JAN 6-9 -- AVN Adult Entertainment Expo, Las Vegas, NV www.homeentertainmentevents.com

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