SUPREME COURT APPEAL FOR COMMUNICATIONS DECENCY ACT (CDA)
LAWSUIT
National Coalition for Sexual Freedom
A project of NCSF
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WASHINGTON D.C. (March 20, 2006)
Today the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed
the Federal District Court's decision in Barbara Nitke and NCSF v.
Alberto
Gonzales, the challenge to the Communications Decency Act, #01 CIV
11476
(RMB). The Supreme Court has affirmed the lower court's decision
without
hearing oral arguments, sending a clear signal that the court will
not protect
free speech rights when it comes to sexually explicit materials.
The NCSF and Nitke lawsuit was successful in weakening
the Miller standard of
judging obscenity: the District Court for the Southern District of
NY made a
factual finding that the SLAPS prong of Miller does not provide protection
against prosecution as it was intended to do. The Miller decision
(1973) stated
that materials were constitutionally protected if the work, taken
as a whole, has"serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value." However
the District
court accepted evidence from NCSF and Nitke that prosecutors and
juries in
more restrictive communities are less likely to extend protection
to artistic and
literary materials that are outside the mainstream of traditional
sexuality.
"We have proven that Miller does not work," says Susan
Wright, Spokesperson
for NCSF. "But the supreme Court has declined to strike it down
at this time.
That means every website on the Internet can be judged by the most
repressive local community standards in the U.S."
The Supreme Court decision shows the importance of supporting
NCSF, one of
the few organizations proactively fighting obscenity laws. The CDA
makes it a
crime to post obscenity on the Internet because those materials may
be viewed
by children. NCSF and Nitke believe that adults hould have the right
to post
and view sexually explicit materials involving consenting adults
on the
Internet.
"We knew that the Bush administration was laying its plans
to prosecute
sexually explicit material on the Internet," says John Wirenius,
attorney for the
plaintiffs. "By filing our lawsuit in 2001, we may have slowed
the Justice
Department from prosecuting obscenity in 2002-3, but the number of
obscenity
prosecutions has steadily increased ever since. We believe in fighting
this
battle and we took our fight all the way to the Supreme Court."
"I think we've achieved a great victory in drawing attention
to how politicized
our judicial system has become," says co-plaintiff Barbara Nitke,
a fine art
photographer who explores sexual relationships in her work. "Our
obscenity
laws are outmoded, especially in conjunction with the Internet. We've
made a
huge dent in how obscenity will be judged in the future, and I hope
others will
now stand up and continue to fight against repressive laws like this."
NCSF and Barbara Nitke would like to thank everyone
who contributed to fund
this important lawsuit, as well as the many dedicated witnesses and
lawyers
who assisted in bringing this case to court. In particular, NCSF
and Nitke thank
John Wirenius for his outstanding efforts in this case and his dedication
to
First Amendment rights. NCSF intends to continue the fight against
obscenity
laws in the U.S.
National Coalition for Sexual Freedom - www.ncsfreedom.org
Barbara Nitke - www.barbaranitke.com
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A project of NCSF
The National Coalition for Sexual Freedom is a national 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. 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
www.ncsfreedom.org
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