FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For Information Contact:
Susan Wright, Spokesperson, susanw@ncsfreedom.org,
917.848.6544
New York, May 26,
2005 — The obscenity case against Extreme Associates
was
dismissed by a Federal judge in Pittsburgh, PA, in
January, 2005. But the
battle
isn't over yet: U. S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan
has appealed to the U.S.
Court of
Appeals for the Third Circuit. NCSF and Barbara Nitke
have joined the fight
challenging the constitutionality of obscenity laws
by filing an Amicus
Brief in
the appeal.
In his historic decision on Extreme
Associates, U.S. District Court Judge
Gary
Lancaster ruled that obscenity laws are unconstitutional
as applied to this
prosecution based on the Supreme Court decision "Lawrence
v. Texas" which
abolished
sodomy laws. "Lawrence v. Texas" said in
effect that the government can no
longer
use "public morality" as a rationale for
suppressing what adults may legally do in
private.
The NCSF and Nitke Amicus Brief supports
Judge Lancaster's opinion and makes
the
following points:
1) The government cannot pick and choose
which subjects of speech it wants
to
regulate and limit. Under this argument, the government
should not be
allowed to
restrict SM pornography more strictly than vanilla
pornography.
2) Obscenity is judged by "local
community standards" which cannot be
applied on
the internet because that means the most restrictive
community in the U.S.
could
impose its view of obscenity on the entire internet.
3) As a result of "Lawrence v. Texas" the
government can no longer
criminalize
private "activities" such as consensual
sodomy. Therefore, the government
cannot be
allowed to criminalize "speech" (words
and images) regarding those
activities. What
justifies this attempt by the government to ban
speech which discusses and
describes activities which are now legal?
To read NCSF and Nitke's Amicus Brief,
go to the NCSF website:
http://www.ncsfreedom.org/pdf/Extreme_Motion_and_Brief.pdf
For more information on the NCSF and Barbara Nitke
Communications Decency
Act
lawsuit, go to:
http://www.ncsfreedom.org/CDA/index.htm
###
The National Coalition for Sexual Freedom
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
Telephone: 410-539-4824
Media hotline: 917-848-6544
media@ncsfreedom.org
www.ncsfreedom.org
If you would like to donate to the
CDA lawsuit expenses, go to: http://www.ncsfreedom.org/donations.htm
Every
dollar goes directly to ensuring free speech on the
Internet!
For a PDF version of this Press Releases,
write to:
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