http://www.sltrib.com/2001/dec/12082001/utah/156148.htm Surprise Role for Porn Czar: Loosening Up State's Nudity Laws Saturday, December 8, 2001 BY DAN HARRIE THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE As Utah porn czar Paula Houston busily attempts to root out smut and obscenity, she also is working to tone down a sweeping -- probably unconstitutional -- state law that bans public displays of nudity or sex. An indecency statute that has been on the books at least 12 years is too broad in its restrictions, Houston says, and could be used to prosecute exhibits of Michelangelo's classic nude "David" sculpture or even displays of bare-breasted women in National Geographic Magazine. "It could be used unconstitutionally, and this clarifies it so it won't be," Houston says. "We have to operate within the law and I'm trying to make the law as clear as possible." Houston is working with Rep. Peggy Wallace, R-West Jordan, on draft legislation that would narrow the statute's open-ended provisions and provide explicit legal protection for displays that have serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value. [...] http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,49044,00.html New Suit Targets Obscenity Law By Julia Scheeres 2:00 a.m. Dec. 12, 2001 PST A national organization that promotes sexual tolerance and an artist who photographs pictures of couples engaged in sadomasochism filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking to overturn Internet obscenity laws. The National Coalition for Sexual Freedom and photographer Barbara Nitke argue that the obscenity provision of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) is so broad that it violates free speech. [...] The lawsuit filed Tuesday claims that the obscenity provision outlined in Section 502 of the CDA is so vague and arbitrary that it could violate speech that should be protected. The sticky words here are the so-called "local community standards," said John F. Wirenius, the plaintiffs' legal counsel and an attorney for civil rights firm Leeds, Morelli & Brown. [...] ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Fri Dec 14 2001 - 11:46:50 PST