With its victory on its motion for preliminary injunction in its 2257 lawsuit, the reputation of the Free Speech Coalition (FSC) as a force for good in the adult industry has risen to historic heights – and the standing-room-only crowd at Thursday night’s meeting at the Sands Expo Center was proof of the organization’s latest approval rating.
FSC Director of Public Relations Tom Hymes chaired the meeting, owing to Executive Director Michelle Freridge already having come down with “Vegas throat.” The first order of business was to announce the new and reelected board members, Jim Everett, Gregory “Spanky” Shearer, Nellie Sym-Gruender, Joan Irvine, Sid Grief, Bill Murphy and Connor Young.
Hymes next listed some of FSC’s plans for 2006, as developed at its strategy session held in September in Key West, Fla. Those included the establishment of FSC’s first federal lobbying day, currently set for June 14, 2006; a new American Bar Assn.-approved attorney referral service for adult businesspeople; a continuing voter education and registration drive; and the development of a greatly improved FSC website.
FSC board chair Jeffrey Douglas was the next speaker, immediately announcing, “We won and we won big,” referring to FSC’s preliminary injunction victory. Douglas went on to explain the meaning of the decision, by U.S. District Court judge Walker D. Miller, for FSC members, including the abolition of the “secondary producer” designation, the exemption of live webcam performers from the requirement to keep a copy of their sexually explicit depictions; and the fact that on many issues that were not addressed in the judge’s order, the court had nonetheless provided a “roadmap of proof” for the trial of the case, some of which would require the assistance of adult businesspersons who had been victims of the regulations already, specifically in the areas of the burden of recordkeeping compliance and violations of performers’ privacy.
Next up was board member/attorney Reed Lee, who had been instrumental in drafting an amicus brief in the motion to free imprisoned Florida-based webmaster Chris Wilson. Both Lee and attorney Clyde DeWitt, whose partner Lawrence Walters is Wilson’s primary attorney, provided details of the battle, which was reported recently on AVN.com.
Lee also discussed the history of the Extreme Associates case, including the most recent motion by attorney H. Louis Sirkin for an en banc hearing of the appeal of Judge Gary Lancaster’s dismissal of all charges in the case. If granted, that would mean that most or all of the 14 Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judges would rehear arguments to uphold Lancaster’s decision. A three-judge panel of that court has already reinstated the charges.
Finally, Lee talked about FSC’s lawsuit against a Utah law requiring anyone attempting to send certain types of e-mail to a Utah resident to pay to make sure that the receiver of the e-mail was not on a state “do not send” list.
A question-and-answer session followed the presentations, with one audience member cogently asking how the government, which is barred from investigating FSC members for 2257 violations, would know who is an FSC member and who isn’t. Douglas responded that while there was once a membership list in the possession of a “special master” appointed by the court, to which the government could inquire if it wanted to inspect someone, that process was negated by Judge Miller’s ruling, so that there is now nowhere the government can go to ascertain who it can legally inspect.
The meeting ended approximately 7 p.m., but judging by the audience’s interest in the subjects discussed, easily could have continued longer.
