1. 11th Circuit upholds Alabama sex toy ban
2. Utah cases challenge whether anti-polygamy laws are constitutional
3. 'Swingers' Club' Lawyer Fails To Get Himself Committed
4. Ready to snap
5. Photographer faces trial over campy Cameron Diaz porn video
6. Cops Probe Condo 'Sex Club'
7. A Swingers Club Owner Files Lawsuit Over Internet Access
1. 11th Circuit upholds Alabama sex toy ban
2. Utah cases challenge whether anti-polygamy laws are constitutional
3. 'Swingers' Club' Lawyer Fails To Get Himself Committed
4. Ready to snap
5. Photographer faces trial over campy Cameron Diaz porn video
6. Cops Probe Condo 'Sex Club'
7. A Swingers Club Owner Files Lawsuit Over Internet Access
11th Circuit upholds Alabama sex toy ban
by Jay Reeves
The Associated Press
via The Times Daily (Alabama)
July 29, 2004
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — A federal appeals court Wednesday upheld a 1998 state law banning the sale of sex toys in Alabama, ruling the Constitution doesn't include a right to sexual privacy.
In a 2-1 decision, a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the state has a right to police the sale of devices including electronic vibrators and other products meant to stimulate the sex organs.
Overturning a lower court, the panel rejected arguments that the Constitution protects the sale of the toys, which are sometimes recommended by counselors for people who have difficulty attaining sexual gratification.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which represented merchants and users who sued to overturn the law, asked the 11th Circuit to rule that the Constitution included a right to sexual privacy. The court declined, indicating such a decision could lead down other paths.
"If the people of Alabama in time decide that a prohibition on sex toys is misguided, or ineffective, or just plain silly, they can repeal the law and be finished with the matter," the court said. "On the other hand, if we today craft a new fundamental right by which to invalidate the law, we would be bound to give that right full force and effect in all future cases including, for example, those involving adult incest, prostitution, obscenity, and the like."
[cont.]
To read this article, go to:
http://www.timesdaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040729/APA/407290511
To respond, write to: vent@timesdaily.com
Utah cases challenge whether anti-polygamy laws are constitutional
by Marci A. Hamilton
Special to CNN.com
July 29, 2004
Several prosecutions and lawsuits against polygamists, now pending in Utah, are notable for the constitutional defenses that have been — or could be — raised.
Polygamy is the practice (usually religious) of having multiple spouses (usually wives). There are two possible lines of constitutional attack on anti-polygamy statutes. One derives from the First Amendment's religion clauses. The other derives from Due Process "right to privacy" concepts — and in particular, from the Supreme Court's recent holding in Lawrence v. Texas that adults have a privacy right that extends to private, consensual sex acts.
In the end, neither of these lines of attack will — or should — be successful. Still, it is worth taking a close look at each to examine the extent to which the Constitution allows states to shape — or forbids them from shaping — the definition of marriage, and regulating who can marry whom.
[cont.]
To read this article, go to:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/07/29/hamilton.polygamy/
To respond, write to: the author at hamilton02@aol.com or
contact the editors at http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form1.html?35
'Swingers' Club' Lawyer Fails To Get Himself Committed:
Suspect Allegedly Attempted to Hire Hit Man
Associated Press report
via NBC10.com
July 28, 2004
DOYLESTOWN, Pa. — A lawyer accused of trying to hire a hit man to get rid of a Montgomery County man so he could take over his house and turn it into a swingers' club was returned to Bucks County Prison after he missed a preliminary hearing.
Joseph P. Guarrasi of Furlong was arrested on a fugitive warrant issued by District Justice Robert A. Schnell Jr. after he missed the 1:30 p.m. hearing Monday. Deputy District Attorney T. Gary Gambardella said Guarrasi was found at Warminster Hospital seeking admission to a psychiatric facility.
Guarrasi, 37, had faced attempted homicide and related charges. He was accused of paying a man $2,000 to kill or maim Thomas Witthauer of Montgomery Township. Guarrasi allegedly wanted to take over Witthauer's house and turn it into a swingers' club. The supposed hit man, Michael Samios, instead went to police, who taped his conversations with Guarrasi. Guarrasi was arrested in March.
[cont.]
To read this article, go to:
http://www.nbc10.com/news/3587182/detail.html
To respond, go to:
http://www.nbc10.com/News/1433300/detail.html
Ready to snap:
Whip enthusiasts take a crack at elevating their hobby to the level of sport
by Vanessa E. Jones
Boston Globe
July 24, 2004
Those are the sounds punctuating the air as members of New England Whip Enthusiasts casually swing their arms to create the whip's distinctive ear-pounding thwack. They're doing what vets in this scene call "cracking" or "throwing" whips. Eric Inman, who created the group, shows the variety of ways to make that noise.
He waves his arm behind him in a snakelike motion to emit cracks on either side of him. He does the whip 101 move, an up-and-down action familiar to anyone who's seen a circus lion tamer crack a whip. Then he circles the whip around his head twice in a helicopter motion before snapping it overhead.
Don't cringe or laugh cynically. There's a new generation of whip-crackers who want to lift the instrument out of the gutter of S&M to the lofty heights of a sport that may one day reach Olympic status. They use their whips to grab items, to heal bodily injuries, or for the sheer joy of making the thing go "pop." They jokingly call themselves "crack addicts" and swear their whips never touch human flesh.
[cont.]
To read this article, go to:
http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2004/07/24/ready_to_snap/
To respond, write to: letter@globe.com
Photographer faces trial over campy Cameron Diaz porn video
by Lisa Sweetingham
Court TV
July 23, 2004
"Charlie's Angels" star Cameron Diaz is heading to court to testify against a man who helped get her one of her first jobs a starring role in a soft-core S&M video made during a 1992 photo shoot.
Photographer John Rutter, 41, shot about 20 topless photos and a video of the then-19-year-old Diaz, just two years before her star-turning role in "The Mask." Now, the Venice Beach shutterbug is set to stand trial Monday on charges of attempted grand theft, forgery and perjury. An extortion charge against him was dropped last week, but Rutter still faces a maximum of five to six years in jail if convicted.
Prosecutors say that in June 2003 Rutter demanded $3.3 million from Diaz, now 31, to prevent him from selling the images to an unspecified European group, which presumably wanted to exploit them. Rutter claims he was offering the actress first right of refusal out of compassion and that Diaz tricked him into believing they had a deal, when in fact she reported him to the district attorney's office.
In fact, the videotape is more campy than lurid. As the young star poses in her peek-a-boob getup, an off-camera voice creepily coos, "You're an animal, go baby, get hot," or "stomach, baby, stomach," when she arches her back too far and her waist shows from under her fetish wear.
In other scenes, Diaz is joined by a dominatrix named Natasha as they pretend to chain-whip a man in a leather mask, loose loincloth and bondage gear.
[cont.]
To read this article, go to:
http://courttv.com/trials/diaz/background_072304_ctv.html
To respond, go to:
http://courttv.com/contact/
Cops Probe Condo "Sex Club"
by Rich Calder and Murray Weiss
The New York Post
July 20, 2004
Police and at least one elected official are scrutinizing whether people are accepting money for sex at a kinky S&M club being run from atop a ritzy, family-friendly building in Gramercy Park.
Councilwoman Margarita Lopez, whose district includes Gramercy Park, asked Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau yesterday to investigate whether "The Winter Palace" club was violating any laws.
"I would very much appreciate meeting with you . . . to discuss whether this activity constitutes prostitution . . . and if not, to discuss what legislative force [I may] bring to deal with this manner," Lopez said in a letter to Morgenthau.
Lopez and the police have responded to a Post probe published yesterday that found H. Richard Quadracci, son of a billionaire printing-company mogul, has been quietly masterminding the secret sex-vault for gay men from his penthouse condo at 39 East 20th St.
[cont.]
To read this article, go to:
http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/27628.htm
To respond, write to: letters@nypost.com
A Swingers Club Owner Files Lawsuit Over Internet Access
Associated Press report
via KVBC.com (Las Vegas
) July 21, 2004
The owner of a Las Vegas swingers club has filed a federal lawsuit seeking to continue offering Internet access at his business. The Green Door owner Joseph Cavaretta says got two summonses in February from the Clark County Business License Department accusing him of operating an adult theater without a license.
The official who issued the summonses said he was able to access adult material through a computer at the business. A lawyer for the business says the case has far-reaching implications — because he says it looks like the government's trying to regulate what people can see on the Internet.
[cont.]
To read this article, go to:
http://www.kvbc.com/Global/story.asp?S=2069137&nav=15MVP1Xk
To respond, go to:
http://www.kvbc.com/Global/category.asp?C=20375&nav=8H3e5jwm
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