GoFuckYourself.com - Adult Webmaster Forum - View Single Post - News 3rd Circuit Vacates Ruling Holding 2257 Constitutional

Joe Obenberger · 06-08-2016, 04:42 PM

It's a great decision and the FSC's lawyers whose tireless efforts accomplished this result deserve great credit.

It can't be emphasized enough that this decision does not end the story. In the Sixth Circuit, just a few years ago, another split 2-1 victory was taken away be an en banc decision, ending that case unfavorably for adult producers. This case is today remanded to the trial court to consider the record-keeping part of the law under the strict scrutiny test and it notes that sometimes statutes can and do survive challenges under that high test. Finally, should Section 2257 be invalidated, and should the government petition the US Supreme Court for review, the odds are far above average that the High Court will take the case for its own review, reconsidering each of the victories achieved today. Exactly because three judges of the Third Circuit disagreed about which of two doctrines articulated by the Supreme Court, one announced in Reed pretty recently, and another line of cases dealing with "Secondary Effects" that's been developing for four decades should control, it's a case appropriate for the Supreme Court to use as a vehicle to determine if Reed really means what it says, if the Secondary Effects Doctrine survives Reed, and whether the Supreme Court will distinguish its holding in Reed from issues involving adult entertainment, brick and mortar, Internet, or both.

Bob Dylan famously sang that there's no telling who's to win while the wheel is still in spin. These issues are still very much alive until the wheel stops spinning - sometime in the future, perhaps years from now. While today's developments are more than encouraging about where Section 2257 is headed, it would not be smart to bet the farm on the hope that when the courts are done, Section 2257 will be wholly invalidated. We all hope so. But until final resolution, the smart producer will continue to comply with all of the Section 2257-related obligations. All of them.

JD

06-08-2016, 04:42 PM
Joe Obenberger Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: May 2003 Location: Chicago Posts: 466	It's a great decision and the FSC's lawyers whose tireless efforts accomplished this result deserve great credit. It can't be emphasized enough that this decision does not end the story. In the Sixth Circuit, just a few years ago, another split 2-1 victory was taken away be an en banc decision, ending that case unfavorably for adult producers. This case is today remanded to the trial court to consider the record-keeping part of the law under the strict scrutiny test and it notes that sometimes statutes can and do survive challenges under that high test. Finally, should Section 2257 be invalidated, and should the government petition the US Supreme Court for review, the odds are far above average that the High Court will take the case for its own review, reconsidering each of the victories achieved today. Exactly because three judges of the Third Circuit disagreed about which of two doctrines articulated by the Supreme Court, one announced in Reed pretty recently, and another line of cases dealing with "Secondary Effects" that's been developing for four decades should control, it's a case appropriate for the Supreme Court to use as a vehicle to determine if Reed really means what it says, if the Secondary Effects Doctrine survives Reed, and whether the Supreme Court will distinguish its holding in Reed from issues involving adult entertainment, brick and mortar, Internet, or both. Bob Dylan famously sang that there's no telling who's to win while the wheel is still in spin. These issues are still very much alive until the wheel stops spinning - sometime in the future, perhaps years from now. While today's developments are more than encouraging about where Section 2257 is headed, it would not be smart to bet the farm on the hope that when the courts are done, Section 2257 will be wholly invalidated. We all hope so. But until final resolution, the smart producer will continue to comply with all of the Section 2257-related obligations. All of them. JD __________________ Extremism in the defense of Liberty is no vice. . . Restraint in the pursuit of Justice is no virtue. Senator Barry Goldwater, 1964