Alabama bans Sex Toys
Women who say they can't enjoy themselves in the bedroom without sex toys like vibrators asked a federal judge Wednesday to block a new Alabama law banning the sale of such items.
Here is the exact text, as adopted by the Alabama State Legislature:
Act 98-467, SB607, amends Sections 13A-12-200.1, 13A-12-200.2, 13A-12-200.3, and 13A-12-200.5, Code of Alabama 1975, relating to obscene nuisances. The act provides a civil remedy for the abatement of obscene nuisances, defines adult bookstore, adult video store, adult movie house, and adult-only entertainment, and creates the crime of unlawful distribution or possession with the intent to distribute any device designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs. The act prohibits the operation of adult enterprises within 1,000 feet of areas frequented by minors and prohibits the employment of minors in establishments that sell or display material that depicts nudity or sexual acts. The act creates the crime of procurement of or preparation of an advertisement for obscene materials, prohibits the showing of the human genitals, pubic area, or buttocks in any business establishment for entertainment purposes, and requires the special licensing of establishments that operate adult-only businesses. The act requires 1/2 of certain fines collected for violations to be paid to the general fund of the county where a violator is imprisoned for use in the operation of the county jail. The act also adds Sections 13A-12-200.11 and 13A-12-200.12 to the Code of Alabama 1975.
EFFECTIVE DATE: 7/1/1998
A group of women has taken the state of Alabama to court over this law, which is not being enforced pending the outcome of this lawsuit.. The American Civil Liberties Union is spearheading the suit in U.S. District Court on behalf of Sherri Williams and other women who say their privacy rights have been violated. "It's a $10,000 fine and a year of hard labour if you get caught selling vibrators," said Williams, who runs two "romance boutiques" in Alabama. "This is not a stereotypical sex shop," Williams said of her business, Loving Enterprises Inc. "We do candles and chocolates and lingerie, all the ingredients for a romantic evening. It just so happens that sex toys are one of those ingredients."
"They set out to eliminate strip clubs, but along the way they snuck in sex toys," Williams said. "Not only did they take away your entertainment, but when they were done they also took away your right to entertain yourself." The ACLU noted in the suit that it was legal for physicians to prescribe the anti-impotency drug Viagra for men in Alabama, but it was not legal to sell items that might help women experience sexual pleasure.
The state contends there is no fundamental right to a product used to produce an orgasm.Attorneys for the state contend that similar bans in Texas and Georgia have been upheld and that legislators have broad discretion in passing laws to protect the public from what they regard as harmful products. The ban on sex toys in this Bible Belt state was signed by Gov. Fob James, who was defeated last November. He backed prayer in school and once threatened to call out the National Guard to keep the Ten Commandments on a courtroom wall.
Mark Lopez of the ACLU, representing users and sellers of sex toys, told the judge that many sex therapists recommend the devices for women who cannot achieve orgasm. U.S. District Judge Lynwood Smith gave no indication of when he might rule
