FSC News release on Chris Wilson
 

Just in from Tom Hymes:

Chris Wilson Released From Jail ? Happy New Year!

Chatsworth, Calif. ? The Free Speech Coalition is overjoyed to learn that the Florida Second District Court of Appeals has issued an order of the Court for the reinstatement of Chris Wilson?s bond and his immediate release from jail, and is gratified to have had the opportunity to add our voice to the amicus brief submitted to the Court last week and acknowledged in the Order it issued yesterday.

We know it was an unhappy Christmas for Mr. Wilson, and that his basic obscenity battle is not over, but his release from jail is a very welcome development, and he needs and deserves everyone's support as he continues to fight against the charges still before him.

But our interest in this case extends beyond its immediate and future impact on Mr. Wilson, to the unknown number of adult webmasters whose free speech rights would have been severely chilled if the actions taken in Polk County were allowed to stand. Indeed, as troubling as this case has been from the start, its significance has expanded exponentially as one by one the Polk County Sheriff, the Florida State?s Attorney and the Trial Court have inexplicably chosen to deprive Mr. Wilson of his constitutional rights.

"We are very pleased that the Florida courts have turned back the prosecutor's unprecedented and dangerous effort to burden obscenity defendants further by jailing them if they continue to disseminate their expression before a proper determination is made on the obscenity issue,? said Reed Lee, FSC Board member, First Amendment Lawyer?s Association (FALA) member, and co-author of the aforementioned amicus. ?The Free Speech Coalition is proud to have partnered with the FALA and the ACLU of Florida on a friend of the court brief we filed in support of Chris Wilson last week."

Our congratulations and best wishes to Chris Wilson and his legal team, Larry Walters and John Weston, and also to FALA member Gary Edinger and FSC Board Chair Jeffrey J. Douglas for their invaluable assistance over the past few weeks.


Free Speech Coalition is the trade organization of the adult entertainment industry. Its mission is to safeguard the industry from oppressive governmental regulation and to promote good business practices within the industry.