NCSF Media Update - July 28, 2005

National Coalition for Sexual Freedom -- Media Update
July 28, 2005
http://www.ncsfreedom.org
media @ ncsfreedom.org

An Online Artist Challenges Obscenity Law
By Randy Kennedy
New York Times
July 28, 2005

In a landmark 1973 case, the United States Supreme Court defined
obscenity in part as anything that "the average person, applying
contemporary community standards" would find appealing only to prurient
interests. But with the growth of the Internet, a difficult question has
arisen: Which community's standards apply in cyberspace?

On Monday in a case brought against the government by a New York
photographer, a panel of federal judges in Manhattan declined to answer
that question, but the lawsuit could end up providing the Supreme Court
with a chance to address the issue.

"I've had to self-censor images from my Web site, which is very, very
disappointing to me," Ms. Nitke said in an interview. "It's impossible
to know who's going to find what obscene, so everybody just has to make
a guess at where the lines are."

"She has submitted objective evidence to substantiate the claim that she
has been deterred from exercising her free-speech rights," the judges
wrote, and this fear is based on a reasonable interpretation of the law.
But they ruled that she had not provided enough evidence about varying
community standards and harm to free speech to prove that the law itself
was unconstitutional.

[continued]

To read this entire article, go to:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/28/arts /design/28obsc.html\?oref=login

To respond to this article, write to: letters @ nytimes.com

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N.Y. Panel Refuses to Enjoin Anti-Pornography Statute
By Mark Hamblett
New York Law Journal
July 27, 2005

A three-judge panel has rejected claims that a federal statute
prohibiting the transmission of obscene material to a minor is
unconstitutionally overbroad.

Refusing to enjoin the enforcement of the Communications Decency Act of
1996 (CDA), the panel found that the National Coalition for Sexual
Freedom and a New York art photographer failed to present sufficient
evidence on the "total amount of speech that is implicated by the CDA"
and the amount of protected speech that is "inhibited" by the act.

Nor have they shown, the panel held, that different community standards
subject them to a greater risk of prosecution than "traditional
pornographers, who can control the dissemination of their own materials."

[continued]

To read this entire article, go to:
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp\?id=1122368711307

To respond, write to: letters_to_the_editor @ corp.law.com

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Judges Uphold Communications Decency Act
By Brendan Coyne
New Standard
July 28, 2005

A three-judge panel Monday shot down a challenge to a law barring the
transmission of a wide variety of speech about alterative sexual
_expression because of the perceived threat such materials pose to minors.

The plaintiff, Barbara Nitke, is an artist who photographs various
sexual activities. Her suit challenged the Act as overly broad and
unconstitutional, Court papers state. She also holds that the ban has
deterred her from exercising her free speech rights.

Joining Nitke in challenging the law was the National Coalition for
Sexual Freedom (NCSF), which bills itself as an "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," such as bondage, swinging and
polyamory.

Following Monday's decision, NCSF attorney John Wirenius said, "artists
and citizens who are sexual minorities are disproportionately censored
by the government's ability to pick its own forum and standard for
obscenity cases."

[continued]

To read this entire article, go to:
http://newstandardnews.net/content/\?action=sh ow_item&itemid=2160

To respond, write to: ed-letters @ newstandardnews.net

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New York judges refuse to say Internet obscenity law is unconstitutional
By Larry Neumeister
Newsday
July 26, 2005

Obscenity provisions in the Communications Decency Act of 1996 had been
challenged by Barbara Nitke, a photographer who specializes in pictures
of sadomasochistic sexual behavior, and by the National Coalition for
Sexual Freedom, a Baltimore-based advocacy organization.

They contended in a December 2001 lawsuit brought in U.S. District Court
in Manhattan that the law was so broad and vague in its scope that it
violated the First Amendment, making it impossible for them to publish
to the Internet because they cannot control the forum.

A judge from the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and two district
judges heard the facts of the case and issued a written decision saying
the plaintiffs had provided insufficient evidence to prove the law was
unconstitutional. The panel noted that evidence was offered to indicate
at least 1.4 million Web sites mention bondage, discipline and
sadomasochism, but the judges said that evidence was insufficient for
them to decide how many sites might be considered obscene.

[continued]

To read this entire article go to:
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--sexsites-obscenit0725
jul25,0,6680266.story\?coll=ny-region-apnewyork

To respond, write to: letters @ newsday.com

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List of 43 newspapers that printed the AP article:

New York Times
Art Daily
Business Week
Forbes
WNBC
Akron Beacon Journal, OH
Boonville Daily News
Bradenton Herald
Canton Daily Ledger, IL
Carthage Press, MO
Ceres Courier, CA
Centre Daily Times, PA
Charlotte Observer, NC
Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, GA
Contra Costa Times, CA
Durant Daily Democrat, OK
First Amendment Center
Gainesville Sun, FL
Kansas City Star, MO
Kansas.com, KS
Kentucky.com, KY
Macon Telegraph, GA
Miami Herald, FL
MLive.com, MI
MSN Money

Myrtle Beach Sun News, SC
New Albany Tribune, IN
Phillyburbs.com, PA
Philly.com, PA
Pioneer Press, MN
Porterville Recorder, CA
Rapid City Journal, SD
Sacramento Bee, CA
San Jose Mercury News
Schaeffers Research, Ohio
Seattle Post Intelligencer
Tahlequah Daily Press, OK
Tallahassee.com, FL
Times Picayune, LA
Tuscaloosa News, AL
Wilkes Barre Times-Leader, PA
Winnipeg Sun
WRAL.com, NC

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HOW TO WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Feedback letters are an effective way to convey a positive image of
alternate sexual practices such as SM, swinging, or polyamory. You can
help to correct negative social myths and misconceptions about these
types of practices. These letters help achieve the advocacy goals of the
NCSF.

Generally, for a letter to be published, it's important to include your
name (or first initial, last name), city and daytime phone (for
verification only). For more information, see:
http://www.ncsfreedom.org/media/writelettertoeditor.htm

Please alert us to positive, negative or neutral stories about SM,
swinging and polyamory at media @ ncsfreedom.org

###

A project of NCSF and the NCSF Foundation

National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF) is a national organization
committed to altering the political, legal, and social environment in
the U.S. in order to guarantee equal rights for 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
http://www.ncsfreedom.org