FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For Information Contact:
Patrick Kowalczyk, patrick@mkpr.com
Michael Kaminer, michael@mkpr.com
Michael Kaminer Public Relations, 212.627.8098
New York, December
11, 2001 — The National Coalition for Sexual
Freedom (NCSF), a national civil liberties organization,
and Barbara Nitke, an acclaimed New York City artist
who operates her own Web site (www.BarbaraNitke.com),
today filed a court challenge that aims to overturn
the last remaining Internet censorship provision of
the flawed Communications Decency Act.
In papers filed in
Federal District Court in New York City, the NCSF
and Nitke claim that the CDA's remaining obscenity
provision is so broad and vague that it violates free
speech and inhibits the discussion of sexual issues
on the Internet among adults.
“Many people are
unaware that one of the most powerful censorship provisions
of the
Communications Decency Act is still in place. Even
fewer realize the dangerous effect it could have in
the hands of an overzealous Administration and Attorney
General,” said Susan Wright, NCSF spokesperson.
“Our goal is to overturn this unconstitutional
provision before this Administration tries to score
political points by attempting to enforce it.”
“By allowing the
most restrictive jurisdiction to define what speech
can be banned as obscene from the Internet, the CDA
allows one community to limit what the entire nation
is allowed to discuss, to read or to view. The First
Amendment does not allow any one locality to impose
its morality on the nation,” said constitutional
scholar and author John Wirenius, legal counsel for
NCSF and an attorney for Leeds Morelli & Brown,
P.C., one of the country's most respected civil rights
firms. Wirenius pointed out that local community definitions
of what is obscene vary dramatically.
Based in Washington,
D.C., The National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF)
is a national organization committed to protecting
freedom of expression among consenting adults. The
NCSF Foundation works through legal initiatives, outreach,
and education to promote greater understanding of
sexuality and human rights. Many NCSF members maintain
Web sites addressing sexual topics that could potentially
be targeted for prosecution under the CDA.
In 1997, the Supreme
Court stuck down the CDA provision that criminalized
any “indecent” or “patently offensive”
speech on the Internet that can be viewed by a minor.
However, the ruling left in place a provision deeming
that sexually-oriented material that is “patently
offensive under local community standards” is
not protected by the First Amendment unless its author
can prove its “redeeming social value.”
Since the CDA does
not actually define the “local community standard”
that would apply to the Internet, the lawsuit claims
that the provision would give the most conservative
communities in the country the power to dictate what
all Americans read, write, and view on the Internet.
Such uncertainty, the lawsuit claims, creates a “chilling
effect” on all Internet content providers, including
artists like Nitke, who must either resort to self-censorship
or risk prosecution.
While no one has been
prosecuted under the CDA, NSCF and other civil liberties
groups fear that Attorney General John Ashcroft will
seek to enforce the statute to placate conservatives
who strongly supported his embattled nomination. The
NCSF points to activists such as Beverly LaHaye of
Concerned Women for America, who said during the nomination
battle that Ashcroft, unlike Attorney General Janet
Reno, would enforce “laws against obscenity.”
Nitke of New York City
said she filed the lawsuit with NCSF because she is
concerned that her artwork could be deemed obscene
under a more restrictive community's standards. Hailed
by The Village Voice for her quest “to find humanity
in marginal sex,” Nitke has gained worldwide
attention for her affecting and powerful photographs
chronicling relationships between consenting adults
engaged in sadomasochistic activities. A professional
photographer since 1982, Nitke is on the faculty of
the New York School of Visual Arts.
“The radical right
has been extremely successful at scaring museums and
publishers from showcasing provocative artwork and
I fear that the Internet is their next target,”
said Nitke. “Artists like myself could be deprived
of one of the last venues for displaying, discussing,
and selling our artwork.”
The full text of the
complaint can be found at: http://www.ncsf-foundation.org
The National Coalition
for Sexual Freedom (NCSF) is a national organization
committed to protecting freedom of expression among
consenting adults. Based in Washington, D.C., the
NCSF Foundation works through legal initiatives, outreach,
and education to promote greater understanding of
sexuality and human rights. The NCSF was founded in
1997 to mobilize diverse grassroots communities to
help change antiquated and unfair sex laws, and to
protect free speech and advance privacy rights. NCSF
is dedicated to ensuring that all consenting adults
can express their sexual identity freely and openly,
without fear. For more information, visit http://www.ncsfreedom.org.
