Sex & Death in Oregon

Gotta hand it to the Oregonians – they certainly know how to brew up a juicy court case. Take, for instance, this week’s opinion from the state Supreme Court which held that the state’s ban on live sex shows (and accompanying 4-foot no-touching zone for strippers & patrons) violate the state constitution. Presumably these are all happening in private places, but still, that’s pretty open minded of the fine folks in Oregon. The court was divided 5-1:

In a dissent, Supreme Court Justice Paul De Muniz said he could not conclude that 'masturbation and sexual intercourse in a 'live public show'' is a form of speech that the drafters of the Oregon Constitution sought to protect.

I can only imagine.

On an equally juicy topic, death, Oregon will be front and center next week in what may be the first marquee case of the Roberts Era at the Supreme Court. On Wednesday, the court will hear arguments in a case to decide whether Attorney General Gonzalez (it was Ashcroft when this began) can, via the DEA’s licensing of doctors to deal with controlled substances, effectively neutralize Oregon’s Death With Dignity Act. In one of those great cases of the right completely abandoning the concept of federalism, the Government wants to tell the doctors of Oregon what constitutes a “legitimate medical practice,” regardless of the expressed will of the rest of Oregon. You can read the briefs for yourself here (US Government), here (Oregon), here (Oregon doctors), and here (Oregon patients).