General Membership Meeting March 17th
The next General Membership Meeting will be held at the Warner Center Marriott at 21850 Oxnard Street in Woodland Hills, California on Thursday, March 17, at 5:30pm. The staff and Board of Directors will meet and greet the members over hors d’oeuvres and drinks.
        FSC invites members to participate in a strategic planning session, which will be facilitated by Michelle L. Freridge, FSC’s Executive Director. Joan Irvine, Executive Director of Adult Sites Against Child Pornography will give a presentation on how the adult entertainment industry can help end child pornography. New and continuing supporters will have the opportunity to pay their dues, make a donation, and pick up recent FSC publications and products.
        Finally, the meeting will end in a St. Patrick’s Day networking party with a no-host bar. Please RSVP with Neva Chevalier at (818) 348-9373 or by email at
Free_speech@sbcglobal.net
__________________________________________________________

HURRY! LOBBYING DAYS DEADLINE MARCH 5
Send in your application now to attend our acclaimed lobbying training program, Celebrate Free Speech Lobbying Days (CFSLD), April 18-19, in Sacramento, California.
        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.
        The application deadline is Saturday, March 5, 2005.  Call the Legislative Affairs Office at 1-800-476-7813 or e-mail Sunlove@direcway.com for more information and an application.
        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!
__________________________________________________________

NIGHTMARE IN PANAMA
JOYITA, REPUBLIC OF PANAMA -- Longtime adult film and video maker Fred Salaff, (aka Clayton Blacquemoor) along with an associate, Stefano Simone and three crew members from a U.S. production company that was working on location in Panama, are languishing in jail here. Conditions in the jail are reportedly atrocious, even by third world standards. Ditto the justice system. To make matters worse, Salaff has serious health problems requiring expensive medications.
        According to his website, Salaff had received clear, written assurances from local authorities that there was no law in Panama against filming adult entertainment, so he arranged for his Panama home to be used for a shoot. Big mistake. The most serious charge against Salaff and Simone is apparently “Corruption of Minors” because some local kids climbed trees to be able to peak over the high walls surrounding the video set.
        Money is the main problem now. Salaff, according to his website, has switched attorneys after paying the first one $6000 with nothing to show for it. Without money to challenge the weaknesses of the charges in advance of a trial, Salaff and his associates could stay in jail for months or years.
        Bill Margold of Protecting Adult Welfare was able to raise $500 for Salaff at Margold’s annual Friends of X-rated Entertainment event and also has raised an additional $100. However, much more is needed.
From Indymedia.org, 2/21/05
http://www.melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2005/02/88002.php
And from Fred Salaff’s website
http://www.fredsalaff.com/
__________________________________________________________

ADULT STORE WINS ANOTHER ROUND
NEW ALBANY, IN -- Federal Judge Sarah Evans Barker has granted Danny Embry, the owner of the adult video store, New Albany DVD, a temporary injunction to be able to operate until Embry’s lawsuit against the city is over. Embry has challenged a business ordinance that seemed to unconstitutionally target his store. The case is proceeding along two separate tracks. Judge Barker is handling the First Amendment issues in her court, while the legal issues related to the city’s planning and zoning procedures will be handled by Floyd County Circuit Court.
        In her ruling, Barker said that the city’s adult-entertainment zoning ordinance was too broadly written. She said that the city erred because it placed limits that were too restrictive on “constitutionally protected speech” by preventing the store from operating.
        Judge Barker also said New Albany DVD qualified as “a pre-existing business” under the adult zoning ordinance, therefore it can maintain operation at its current location for at least two years to recover the owners’ investment before it is required to move.
        City Attorney Shane Gibson said the city has filed an appeal of the injunction with the Seventh Circuit Appellate Court.
        It is worth noting that Judge Barker is the trial judge who, in the mid-eighties, struck down the infamous Indianapolis Ordinance. Based on the legal theories of anti-porn feminist Catherine MacKinnon, the ordinance would have allowed civil lawsuits by “victims” harmed by adult entertainment materials.
From Aman Ali, The Tribune, 2/28/05
http://www.news-tribune.net/
articles/2005/02/28/news/new_albany_tribune/news08.txt
__________________________________________________________

SABER RATTLING FROM JUSTICE
WASHINGTON, DC -- Taking a page out of John Ashcroft’s book, Alberto Gonzalez, in his first substantive address since taking office as Attorney General, announced he would move aggressively to prosecute obscenity cases. People who distribute obscene materials do not enjoy constitutional guarantees of free speech, he said.
        “I am committed to prosecuting these crimes aggressively,” Gonzales said to a Washington meeting of the California-based Hoover Institution. The new AG also commented on another issue of great concern to civil libertarians. He said that the Senate blocking of judicial nominees, is a “broken process that must be fixed” before there is a vacancy on the Supreme Court. (See following report.)
From Mark Sherman, Associated Press, 3/1/05
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20050301/1016527.asp
__________________________________________________________

NEW SENATE RULES PROPOSAL SEEN AS NAZI-LIKE
WASHINGTON, DC -- West Virginia’s outspoken Democratic Senator Robert C. Byrd clearly does not see the Senate’s role in judicial nominations as “a broken process that must be fixed.” (See report above.)
        Byrd recently made a speech on the Senate floor comparing Republican proposals that would limit debate in the Senate on judicial nominees to Hitler’s tactics used to gain power in Nazi Germany. Conservatives who favor the new rules are, as one might suppose, livid over being compared to Nazis. However, the proposed rules change could lead to a scary consolidation of power.
         “Without the filibuster or the threat of extended debate,” argues Byrd, “there exists no leverage with which to bargain for the offering of an amendment. All force to effect compromise between the parties will be lost. Demands for hearings will languish. The President of the United States can simply rule by Executive order, if his party controls both Houses of Congress and majority rule reigns supreme. In such a world, the minority will be crushed, the power of dissenting views will be diminished, and freedom of speech will be attenuated…. This is a question of freedom of speech. That is what we are talking about -- freedom of speech. And the American spirit, that stubborn, feisty, contrarian, and glorious urge to loudly disagree, and proclaim, despite all opposition, what is honest, what is true, will be sorely manacled.”
        Amen, Brother Byrd
Senator Byrd’s speech, as recorded in the Congressional Record, can be read at the following URL.
From WTRF Channel 7 News, 3/2/05
http://www.wtrf.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=1237
__________________________________________________________

GROUPS SCREW UP PETITIONS -- CASE THROWN OUT
ABILENE, KS -- Kansas Senior Judge Ronald Innes has dismissed promoting obscenity charges against the Lion’s Den Adult Superstore here. The case was highly politicized, with the original indictments coming from a grand jury impaneled after Citizens for Strengthening Community Virtues (aided by the American Family Association) gathered enough voter signatures to force a summons.
        Now it seems the signature gathering process was a bit flawed. Judge Innes ruled that the petition calling for the grand jury was not in compliance with state law, because information showing the voting place information of signers was added later by others.
        “The provision requiring the signers to show their precinct and ward is mandatory in the judgment of the court; and accordingly, the indictment of the defendant by the grand jury was invalid,” said Judge Innes.
        The ads then go on for some paragraphs, laying out the familiar arguments of these groups in their fight against adult entertainment.
        All of the original 29 counts of promoting obscenity against Lion’s Den were for selling adult novelties, most of which are commonly found in adult stores across the country.
From David Clouston, The Salina Journal, 3/1/05
http://www.saljournal.com/content/2-0-/
module/displaystory/story_id/4678/format/html/displaystory.html
__________________________________________________________

STATE “SIN TAX” MOVES FORWARD
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK -- The state House has approved a bill (House Bill 15-32) proposing a “sin-tax” of ten percent on both adult entertainment businesses and escort services. Revenues from the Sexually Explicit Business and Escort Service Tax Act will be dedicated to domestic violence and sexual abuse programs. Some of the tax revenues will also help self-employed Oklahomans afford health insurance.
        However, lumping escort services with dance clubs and other adult entertainment could make it more difficult for the bill to pass the Senate. Escort services are frequently fronts for prostitution, said Representative Debbie Blackburn, and the measure makes it appear that the state is encouraging the businesses to work harder. Taxing sex-oriented businesses in general, say some opponents, could give them a legitimacy they don’t deserve.
From KTUL TV, 3/2/05
http://www.ktul.com/news/stories/0305/210673.html
__________________________________________________________

ON-AIR BROADCASTERS VERSUS CABLE
WASHINGTON, DC -- National Association of Broadcasters President Eddie Fritts likes the idea of indecency restrictions on cable, and has suggested that on-air broadcasters would be willing to consider a package deal with federal legislators, perhaps as part of a larger telecommunications bill. In other words, broadcasters might accept higher penalties if new restrictions also applied to cable. Broadcasters, of course, are in competition with cable and apparently would like a level playing field, even if the same pabulum is served up on both.
       This proposed pact with the devil came after a talk by Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) at the annual NAB state leadership conference here. In his presentation, Stevens, who is Chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, promised to bring the same indecency restrictions to cable as it is currently foisting on broadcasters.
        National Cable & Telecommunications Association President McSlarrow, on the other hand, says there is no reason for the government to reverse long-standing exemptions for cable given all the options subscribers have for blocking channels they don’t want to see. Stay tuned.
        "A lot of people don't want to take videos home where the kids can find them," Holliday said.
From Bill McConnell, Broadcasting and Cable, 3/1/05
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
article/CA507612.html?display=Breaking+News&referral=SUP

UpComing Events

MAR 31-APR 2 – The Phoenix Forum, Tempe, AZ http://www.thephoenixforum.com/

APR 11-13 International Lingerie Show, Las Vegas, NV www.spectrade.com

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

MAY 1 – Adult Con 8, Los Angeles Convention Center, www.Erotica-LA.com

MAY 19-21 --  Erotic Expo., Hotel Pennsylvania, N.Y., NY www.Eroticexpony.com

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

JULY 11-13 – ANME, Mandalay Bay, Vas Vegas, NV

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