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JohnWarren -> Barbara Nitke loses in USSC (3/20/2006 5:22:05 PM)
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I just received the following message from NCSF. Note that the Court ruled without even hearing oral arguments.
We may see more websites self censoring or even going out of business.
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>
> National Coalition for Sexual Freedom
>
> Contact:
> Susan Wright, NCSF Spokesperson
> (917) 848-6544
>
> Supreme Court Decision in the Communications Decency Act (CDA)
>
> March 20, 2006 - Washington D.C. b Today the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed
> the
> Federal District Court's decision in Barbara Nitke and NCSF v. Alberto
> Gonzales,
> the challenge to the Communications Decency Act, #01 CIV 11476 (RMB). The
> Supreme
> Court has affirmed the lower court's decision without hearing oral
> arguments,
> sending a clear signal that the court will not protect free speech rights
> when it
> comes to sexually explicit materials.
>
> The NCSF and Nitke lawsuit was successful in weakening the Miller standard
> of
> judging obscenity: the District Court for the Southern District of NY made
> a
> factual finding that the SLAPS prong of Miller does not provide protection
> against
> prosecution as it was intended to do. The Miller decision (1973) stated
> that
> materials were constitutionally protected if the work, taken as a whole,
> has "serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value." However
> the
> District court accepted evidence from NCSF and Nitke that prosecutors and
> juries in
> more restrictive communities are less likely to extend protection to
> artistic and
> literary materials that are outside the mainstream of traditional
> sexuality.
>
> "We have proven that Miller does not work," says Susan Wright,
> Spokesperson for
> NCSF. "But the Supreme Court has declined to strike it down at this time.
> That
> means every website on the Internet can be judged by the most repressive
> local
> community standards in the U.S."
>
> The Supreme Court decision shows the importance of supporting NCSF, one of
> the few
> organizations proactively fighting obscenity laws. The CDA makes it a
> crime to post
> obscenity on the Internet because those materials may be viewed by
> children. NCSF
> and Nitke believe that adults should have the right to post and view
> sexually
> explicit materials involving consenting adults on the Internet.
>
> "We knew that the Bush administration was laying its plans to prosecute
> sexually
> explicit material on the Internet," says John Wirenius, attorney for the
> plaintiffs. "By filing our lawsuit in 2001, we may have slowed the Justice
> Department from prosecuting obscenity in 2002-3, but the number of
> obscenity
> prosecutions has steadily increased ever since. We believe in fighting
> this battle
> and we took our fight all the way to the Supreme Court."
>
> "I think we've achieved a great victory in drawing attention to how
> politicized our
> judicial system has become," says co-plaintiff Barbara Nitke, a fine art
> photographer who explores sexual relationships in her work. "Our obscenity
> laws are
> outmoded, especially in conjunction with the Internet. We've made a huge
> dent in
> how obscenity will be judged in the future, and I hope others will now
> stand up and
> continue to fight against repressive laws like this."
>
> NCSF and Barbara Nitke would like to thank everyone who contributed to
> fund this
> important lawsuit, as well as the many dedicated witnesses and lawyers who
> assisted
> in bringing this case to court. In particular, NCSF and Nitke thank John
> Wirenius
> for his outstanding efforts in this case and his dedication to First
> Amendment
> rights. NCSF intends to continue the fight against obscenity laws in the
> U.S.
>
> National Coalition for Sexual Freedom - www.ncsfreedom.org
> Barbara Nitke - www.barbaranitke.com
>
> ###
>
> A project of NCSF
>
> 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
> 410-539-4824
> [email protected]
> www.ncsfreedom.org
>
> Please cross-post
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