Sweet Home, Alabama where the judges are loons, and hypocrisy looms.
Dateline Oct 1, in the year 2007. I include the year only because it is
difficult to believe the SUPREME COURT here has been battling this issue
for NINE long years. What could BE so important? Could it be hunger,
homelessness, hate crimes, or possibly health insurance? NAY, they have
been duking it out with the good people of Alabama now these
many years to reach this day when they were finally able to issue a
warning to an Adult store to clean their shelves of battery operated
and other "Adult" devices.
Merely reading the language in the 1998
anti-obscenities law must surely make the wearers of the gowns swoon! The law bans the distribution of "any device designed or marketed
as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs for
anything of pecuniary value." Whew! I hope no one needed smelling salts
after wading through that rough talk!
We know lawmakers are a very moral group, a quick read of the headlines
will verify that, but they are not without compromise. The law does not
ban the possession of sex toys, and it doesn’t regulate other items,
including condoms or virility drugs. Residents may legally purchase sex
toys out of state in some sin ridden area for use in Alabama, or – and I
love this, they may buy sexual devices in Alabama that have a "bona fide
medical" purpose. Hmm..I don’t recall seeing anything similar prescribed
by a doctor since the "Hysteria devices" doctors employed for female
patients in the 1800’s…perhaps they have some lying around in a
museum?
I wonder if those of you in Texas know similar laws have been upheld in
your state, as in Georgia and Mississippi? If not, you could be breaking
the law by attending one of those "fun product" parties so popular with
the ladies, often with a hand written list from the Mister balanced with
their teacup while they examine the latest in marital aid technology. If
you see a clerk giving you the eyeball for purchasing a stockpile of AA
bateries at a Home Hell Warehouse Store, now you know why.
The laws were struck down in Louisiana, Kansas and Colorado according to
Mark Lopez, former ACLU attorney who had worked on the Alabama case
until recently when he fled back to New York, after issuing a warning to
a store owner who wishes to continue to fight this law. She feels it is
legislating morality and further evidence of religion in politics. Mark
Lopez commented on the wisdom of fighting anymore,"Adult stores may be
cautious about pushing the issue of what constitutes a medical device
because the law has strong penalties: Up to a year in jail and a $10,000
fine for a first offense. A second offense carries a prison sentence of
one to 10 years." It remains to be seen if any merchants are willing to
sit on the Group Dubya Bench, and admit that they’re doing ten years for
refusing to stop selling prostate probers. Full Story