The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has once again made Alabama safe from the scourge of sex toys. The court reversed a lower court's decision that the US Constitution contained a right to privacy that included the use of sex toys in the privacy of your own home. To be fair, the court pointed out right up front that they were not dealing with laws regulating the possession or even use of sex toys, only the "commercial distribution" of them. And not even that, really, if you read between the lines. As with the notorious Texas prosecution that was recently dismissed, the law would seem allow the sale of sex toys as "novelties" or "action figures" or anything other than aids to sexual gratification.
Is this a great country or what?
Friday, July 30, 2004
Alabamians Can Sleep Safely, Again
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3 comments:
I have to point out that the courts rational was pretty good. As I recall, the court said that to interject a new right (sellers of sex toy privacy) into the constitution wasn't really necessary as the people of Alabama can always decide to it through legislation... must not be that big a deal to them right now. I tended to agree with the court here. Imagine that.
True, but any legislative enactment can be changed if the "people" want it. That has nothing to do with the constitutionality of the enactment itself. I think the court declined to take the ACLU up on its offer of defining a broad new constitutional right, instead pointing out the stupidity of the law and the fact that it can be easily worked around.
I am a fan of constitutional protections, you bet! However, I am also a fan of that age old "plain good idea": Don't monkey with the constitution if you don't have to. This issue was about money and sales and customers. That's it. The law doesn't say you can't OWN those Ben-Wah balls, use them, or even display them in your cureo cabinet... the law says don't SELL them here. If Alabama wants to change that they can. Until then, purveyors of cleverly molded vibrating devices will just have to sell them here -- in CALIFORNIA.
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