Page 18 - AVN August 2013

EDITOR’S DESK
WE’VE GOT ISSUES | By Sharan Street
Win Some, Lose Some
B Ba ad d n ne ew ws s o on n 2 22 25 57 7, , g go oo od d n ne ew ws s i in n F Fl lo or ri id da a
As this issue goes to press, AVN’s own team of behind-the-scenes powerhouses are hard at
work. Some of them are firmly focused on the future, paying attention to all the details
that must be considered to ensure that AVN’s many events go off without a hitch. One of
those is The Sex Awards—a joint venture with Paul Fishbein and Darren Roberts of
X3Sixty—which takes place October 9. Once they’ve gotten that show under their belts,
the events team can put all their attention into the January trade events and award shows.
For more details on these happenings, see page 20.
Other team members are more focused on the present—particularly on the editorial
side of AVN. July was a big month for news that affects the adult industry. One of those
stories was a hearing on a temporary restraining order in the Measure B lawsuit filed by
Vivid and various co-plaintiffs. To see Mark Kernes’ coverage, go to page 48.
Several other legal matters came to a head in the last few days—too late to be included
in this print edition of AVN, but so significant that they are worth noting in brief. Those
who would like to know more can read the full coverage on AVN.com.
2257 Lawsuit: Last month’s issue included Mark Kernes’ coverage of the FSC v.
Holder lawsuit. A ruling in the case came down on July 18. As Kernes reported, “In a
landmark ruling against the adult industry and every person who’s ever taken a video or
photo of him/her/themselves having sex, Judge Michael M. Baylson today issued a
Judgment and Memorandum stating that the attorneys and witnesses arguing Free Speech
Coalition’s claims, as well of those of 15 other plaintiffs, against the federal recordkeeping
and labeling laws, 2257 and 2257A, had not met their burden of proof, except as to the
issue of whether FBI inspections of adult business records held in private homes could
legally be done without prior notice. However, the ruling leaves in place the ability of
inspectors to enter business premises without a warrant and inspect 2257 records.”
In a separate opinion piece, Kernes went on to comment that Baylson’s ruling “finds
for the government on almost every issue—and on almost every issue, it’s wrong.”
The Free Speech Coalition issued a release in response to the decision, which stated in
part some satisfaction with the judge’s Fourth Amendment analysis: “Although he did not
issue an injunction against unannounced, warrantless searches, he declined only because
he was convinced that the Government would not do so in the foreseeable future. He
went out of his way to say that if the Government did again proceed with unannounced,
warrantless searches, injunction relief would be available. Most significantly, he did hold
unconstitutional unannounced, warrantless searches of private homes for 2257 records,
something the government did in over 20 percent of the past inspections.
“Even on the First Amendment issues, the trial court record gives us great optimism for
appeal by the Third Circuit of Appeals. Many of Judge Baylson’s findings in both First
Amendment and Fourth Amendment areas provide a strong basis for reversal and the
ultimate dismantling of 18 U.S.C. section 2257.”
Obscenity: Kernes reported on July 22, “First Amendment attorney Lawrence G.
Walters has scored another victory in a Florida obscenity case—and as might be expected,
it was a case brought in Polk County. And he's hot on the trail of another crime against
free expression, this time in Pittsylvania County, Va.
“The real victor in the Florida case is Minakashiben Patel, a clerk at a Sunoco gas sta-
tion convenience store who, on May 7, was arrested by Polk County deputies on ten
counts of ‘Possession of Obscene Material With Intent to Sell,’ ten counts of ‘Sale of
Obscene Material,’ one count of ‘Wholesale Promotion of Obscene Material’ ... and later,
one count of ‘Delivery or Possession With Intent to Deliver Drug Paraphernalia’—to wit,
one can of ‘Detox’ energy drink.
Censorship: Also on July 22 came news about a crackdown on porn in the United
Kingdom, about which AVN reported, “The joke about Brits and sex is not lost on the
British. In reaction to Prime Minister David Cameron’s official announcement today of a
plan to crack down on internet porn by mandating an ISP-level opt-in scheme, the
Register has already weighed in with the pithy subhead ‘No sex please. We’re British.’ It’s
not really meant to be funny, though. Cameron’s plan, though ridiculed by that U.K.
paper and others, marks a disturbing crossroads for the island nation, which simply can-
not seem to abide the status quo in terms of internet openness and can publicly conceive
of no solution but the deployment of gateway filters that by default are always on.”
To read more about these stories and other important legal cases as they develop,
visit us daily at AVN.com.
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