ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING JAN 6
        Free Speech Coalition’s Annual Membership Meeting will be held at 12:30 PM, Thursday, January 6, at the Adult Entertainment Expo, Sands Convention Center, 201 East Sands Avenue, Room 106, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
        FSC Executive Director Michelle L. Freridge will introduce the 2005 Board of Directors over a continental breakfast and coffee.
        First Amendment Attorney Larry Walters will give a presentation on Title 18, Section 2257, the newly expanded federal labeling law regulations, and answer questions afterwards.
        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 with Neva Chevalier at (818) 348-9373 or by email at free_speech@sbcglobal.net
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DANCE CLUB DISTANCE RULES STRUCK DOWN
HARTFORD, CT – Federal District Judge Warren W. Eginton has granted a motion for a summary judgment overturning the town of Berlin, Connecticut’s local ordinance restricting adult businesses. Norman Pattis and Kimberly Coleman Waisonovitz, attorneys for Centerfolds exotic dance club, successfully argued that the Berlin ordinance, which bans physical contact between club patrons and performers, would make illegal even “innocent” contact such as inadvertent brushing when two people walk past each other.
        Club attorneys also challenged Berlin’s ban on private booths and cubicles, lap dances and other simulated sexual activity, and from early news accounts it appears Judge Eginton ruled that Berlin’s ban on simulated sex acts is unconstitutional.
        The prohibition on lap dances and similar contact is “irrational,” attorneys Pattis and Waisonovitz argued, because it bans behavior protected by the First Amendment and because it fails to distinguish between illegal acts and simulated acts that violate no known laws.
        Although one district court judge’s opinion is not binding on another’s, Judge Eginton’s ruling has discouraged other communities with similar bans on physical contact. For example, Milford, Connecticut has an ordinance much like the one struck down in Berlin and also faces a lawsuit by a local dance club.
From Frank Juliano, Connecticut Post, 12/31/04
http://www.connpost.com/Stories/0,1413,96~3750~2628025,00.html
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INFLATED FCC NUMBERS REVEALED  
WASHINGTON, DC – Thanks to a Freedom of Information Act request to the FCC, we now learn that of the oft-mentioned 240,000 complaints received by the Federal Communications Commission regarding television content in 2003, all but 267 were from one group: the Parents Television Council.
        Last February, FCC Chair Michael Powell told congress that the commission had experienced “a dramatic rise in public concern and outrage about what is being broadcast into their homes,” touting figures which showed a dramatic rise in citizen complaints from 350 complaints in 2001 to a record 240,000 in 2003. Using those numbers to help build their case, the FCC levied fines and issued warnings about indecency to broadcasters, creating a chilling effect on freedom of speech in the industry, while congress proceeded to pass legislation allowing draconian fines in the future for broadcast indecency.
        The Parents Television Council is a conservative advocacy group that claims to be “bringing America’s demand for positive, family-oriented television programming to the entertainment industry.”
        [This story has been low-keyed by the mainstream media to the point of virtual invisibility. We only happened to learn about it while perusing the progressive website commondreams.org.]
From Robert D. Richards &Clay Calvert, Boston Globe, 12/27/04
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/1227-26.htm
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SECONDARY EFFECTS STUDY INFLUENCES COUNCIL
EVERETT, WA – The City Council here is taking what appears to be an open-minded approach to an adult business ordinance. Controversy erupted last March when Taboo Video opened near a day care center and residence. Some people picketed and the council established a temporary moratorium on adult retail businesses. Now they have voted, unanimously, to extend the moratorium for another six months.
        However, there are voices on both sides of the issue. Councilwoman Marian Krell pointed to a police department study that concluded there appeared to be little difference between the number of crimes near adult video and conventional video stores.
        Opponents of adult stores say the study wasn’t thorough enough. They also point to litter, noise and other problems at Taboo Video. Krell and other council members say those are problems other businesses cause as well.
       Krell said she would support additional restrictions only if it’s clear that existing adult stores are causing problems.
        “We shouldn’t be over-regulating businesses,” she said.
        Gordy Lindstrom, who has helped lead the campaign against Taboo, said if the city enacts restrictions on adult businesses, it should extend them retroactively to Taboo.
        However, other council members said they would probably oppose a retroactive ordinance. It’s unfair to “make something illegal retroactively and tell people who invested money in a business that they have to shut it down,” said Councilmember Mark Olsen
From David Olson,The Everett Herald, 12/27/04
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6769136
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DANCE CLUB OWNER’S LAWSUIT OK’D TO PROCEED
LA HABRA, CA – In March, 2004, X-Press reported that Badi “Bill” Gammoh was being paid $2 million by the City of Anaheim in a settlement for having violated his constitutional rights and for his loss of business because the city would not allow him to open his Taboo Gentlemen’s Club from 1994 to 1999.  According to Gammoh’s attorney, Scott Wellman, that was the first time an adult business in the state has been awarded damages for lost business because of a city “depriving it of its First Amendment rights to freedom of expression.”
        Now, Gammoh’s lawsuit against La Habra -- based on a similar complaint involving harassment of another of his clubs  -- will be allowed to proceed, says the 4th District Court of Appeals. Gammoh claims La Habra officials harassed him and violated his First Amendment rights by enforcing an anti-strip-club ordinance that later was deemed unconstitutional.
        The recent Court of Appeals ruling in Gammoh’s favor was full of legal twists and judicial back-peddling due in part to its own error. When the justices (in 2002) reversed the trial-court decision that had upheld the constitutionality of the La Habra ordinance banning adult cabarets, they failed -- they realized with hindsight -- to address another of the trial judge’s rulings, the one that blocked Gammoh from seeking damages. The question arose: Can the trial judge rule the ordinance unconstitutional and deny Gammoh the right to seek damages at the same time? It seems the appeals court forgot to tell the trial judge that he couldn’t do that. So now Gammoh gets a make-up call, so to speak.
        Gammoh’s Taboo Gentlemen’s Clubs in Anaheim and La Habra have been embroiled in legal battles for the last decade. He also owns a club in Arcadia.
From Jason W. Armstrong, The Daily Journal, 12/27/04
www.dailyjournal.com (Subscription required.)
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FREE SPEECH VERSUS OFFENDED RELIGIONS
BIRMINGHAM, GREAT BRITAIN -- The Birmingham Repertory Theatre was forced to cancel its run of the play “Behzti” after a violent protest by members of the Sikh community. Several police officers were injured and three people were arrested when a small group – part of a larger demonstration – became violent and tried to storm the theatre. Sikh leaders say the play, which depicts acts of sexual abuse and murder in a fictional Gurdwara, or Sikh temple, demeaned their religion. Playwright Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, who received death threats, is said to be in hiding.
        The Sikh’s are not alone in their negative reaction to the play. Some Christian leaders expressed solidarity with their Sikh counterparts.
        “Such a deliberate, even if fictional, violation of the sacred place of the Sikh religion demeans the sacred place of every religion. People of all faiths, therefore, will be offended,” said Vincent Nichols, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham.
        John Sentamu, the Anglican Bishop of Birmingham, agreed that the play “causes the greatest offense to most people.”
        The secular community, including 700 artists and civil libertarians who signed a letter of support for the play, defended free speech principles.
        “It is a legitimate function of art to provoke debate and sometimes to express controversial ideas…. Those who use violent means to silence it must be vigorously opposed and challenged, whatever our faith, belief or opinions,” said the group.
        “The causing of offense is part of our business,” said Nicholas Hytner, artistic director of the National Theatre.
From Jill Lawless, Associated Press, 12/28/04
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=529&ncid=529&e=5&u=
/ap/20041228/ap_en_ot/britain_sikh_play
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EXOTIC DANCE CLUB SUES TO KEEP PERMIT
LONG BEACH, CA – Owners of the Flamingo Gentleman’s Club here have filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court challenging the revocation of their club’s permit and also challenging the city’s nudity ordinance. The suit argues that the club has the right “to present constitutionally protected, erotic, striptease dancing.”
        The club at is accused of allowing nude dancing and lap dancing in violation of their entertainment permit. That permit allowed alcohol service, but prohibited nude dancing and patron contact with dancers.
        Roger Diamond, the club’s attorney, said he was confident his clients would prevail, noting recent victories on similar issues in Westminster, La Habra and Pico Rivera.
        “Do they want to spend this kind of money litigating this issue when nobody is complaining?” asked Diamond.
From Jason Gewirtz, Press Telegram, 12/27/04
http://www.presstelegram.com/Stories/0,1413,204~21474~2625177,00.htm
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UpComing Events

JAN 6 – FSC Annual Membership Meeting, 12:30 PM, Sands Convention Center, Room 106, Las Vegas, NV

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

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

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Subscriptions to Free Speech X-Press are FREE to FSC members. Contact us at Sunlove@direcway.com or 800-476-7813.