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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
National Coalition
for Sexual Freedom
Contact: Susan Wright, media@ncsfreedom.org,
917.848.6544
New York, December
18, 2003 — The National Coalition for Sexual
Freedom has submitted expert witness reports for their
landmark Communications Decency Act lawsuit, Nitke
v. Ashcroft (Case No. 01 Civ. 11476). John Wirenius,
attorney for plaintiffs NCSF and photographer Barbara
Nitke, provided 31 expert witness reports and witnesses
who will testify before the three-judge panel for
the Southern District of New York.
The expert witness
reports support the plaintiffs' contention that “local
community standards” cannot be accurately applied
to the Internet and, therefore, cannot be used to
determine what is obscene. If the most restrictive
communities can control what is placed on the Internet,
then everyone will be restricted to that standard.
The Internet is a world-wide phenomenon, therefore
websites should not be held to standards specific
to geo-location because community standards vary significantly
from region to region and community to community.
Expert witness reports
were submitted that establish self-censoring by artists
because of the vagueness of this law. The importance
of anonymity because of the frequent persecution of
sexual minorities was also established as well as
the social importance of sexually explicit speech
in both art and education.
“This phase of
the trial is critical because the evidence is on the
table,” said John Wirenius, First Amendment attorney
and author of First Amendment, First Principles: Verbal
Acts and Freedom of Speech. “The plaintiffs are
providing the scientific grounds for our contention
that visitors to the Internet cannot be tracked, and
therefore limiting content on the Internet will limit
free speech. The government is obligated to show,
if they can, why our experts are incorrect.”
By law the government
had 30 days from the date plaintiffs identified their
expert witnesses to the court to file notice of the
identities of rebuttal experts and written summaries
of their anticipated testimony. To date the government
has filed no such notice, and the deadline has passed.
The following Experts
and Witnesses filed reports:
-
Artists Who Have Self-Censored
Barbara Nitke - professional photographer and co-plaintiff
in CDA lawsuit
Patrick Califia - prolific author of essays, fiction
and poetry
Deborah Christian - science-fiction/fantasy author
Nina Hartley - adult film star
Theresa Reed - writer, editor, and reviewer of adult
videos and books
Candida Royalle - adult film star and producer of
erotic films
Michele Serchuk - fine art photographer
Tristan Taormino - columnist, adult film producer
and performer
-
Educational Organizations that
have Self-Censored
Dov Hechtman for TES - TES is a New York-based pansexual,
educational
and social SM membership group
Glenda Rider for FIST - FIST is a Baltimore City
educational and social SM
membership group for women
-
Social Importance of Sexually
Explicit Speech
Arthur C. Danto - Ph.D., Johnsonian Professor Emeritus
of Philosophy at
Columbia University, art critic for The Nation,
and a contributing editor of
Artforum
A.D. Coleman - Ph.D., critic of photography, art,
mass media and new
communication technologies
Betty Dodson - artist, author, sex educator and
international authority on
women's sexuality
Deborah Addington - author, teacher, creative writer,
activist and freelance
journalist
Gloria G. Brame - Ph.D. in Human Sexuality, author,
sex and relationship
expert
Michele Buchanan - anthropology professor
Charles Moser - Ph.D., MD., author of numerous peer-reviewed
articles
about SM
Carol Queen - Ph.D. in Sexology, author and editor
David Steinberg - photographer, columnist, editor
and publisher
Linda Williams - author and professor of Film Studies
and Rhetoric at the
University of California, Berkeley
-
Importance of Anonymity
Eva Norvind - M.A. in Human Sexuality and Health
Education from New York
University
Katherine Ramsland - Ph.D. in forensic psychology,
clinical psychology, and
philosophy
-
Geo-Location and the Internet
Ben Laurie - technical director and consultant,
expert witness for YAHOO! in
the French courts
Seth Finkelstein - anti-censorship activist and
programmer, recently hailed
by the Library of Congress's Copyright Office
-
Variations in Community Standards
Jeffrey J. Douglas, Esq. - Chairman of the Board
of the Free Speech
Coalition
Leigha Fleming - Director of Constituency Services
for National Coalition for
Sexual Freedom
Robert Thomas - convicted in Memphis, TN for speech
deemed inoffensive
that was posted in the Bay Area in 1996
Carleen Thomas - convicted in Memphis, TN for speech
deemed inoffensive
that was posted in the Bay Area in 1996
Howard Rheingold - author and editor about technology,
society and
creativity
Susan Wright - Spokesperson for National Coalition
for Sexual Freedom
For more information on the CDA Lawsuit, go to:
http://www.ncsfreedom.org/CDA/index.htm
###
The National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF)
is a national organization committed to creating a
political, legal, and social environment in the United
States that advances equal rights of consenting adults
who practice forms of alternative sexual expression.
NCSF is primarily focused on the rights of consenting
adults in the SM-leather-fetish, swing, and polyamory
communities, who often face discrimination because
of their sexual expression.
National Coalition for Sexual Freedom
822 Guilford Avenue, Box 127
Baltimore, MD 21202-3707
410-539-4824
media@ncsfreedom.org
www.ncsfreedom.org
For a PDF version of this Press Releases,
write to:
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