Hamilton County prosecutor Mike Allen is trying to revive 15 obscenity charges against Hustler publisher Larry Flynt, but that’s not stopping Flynt from visiting Jimmy Flynt’s Hustler Cincinnati as part of his annual Freedom Tour.
With AVN Award winner Jenna Jameson as Flynt’s traveling companion, Freedom Tour 2003 will launch next Monday at Hustler Hollywood in West Hollywood, with promotional stops at all four Hustler retail stores in a celebration of the Fourth of July and the First Amendment rights granted to the nation by the founding fathers.
Flynt and Jameson will be meeting their fans, signing autographs and raffling off prizes.
“Jenna is such an enormous drawing card," Larry Flynt told AVN.com. "She’s like a female Ron Jeremy – except much better looking. When we do a signing with Jenna, we double our revenue that day.”
The local media in Ohio have made much ado about Flynt’s plans for a promotional event at a store that is facing possible obscenity charges – especially since he’s bringing a porn star with him. However, the event was planned well before Allen tried to reopen the 1999 case that resulted in a plea bargain.
“We’ve been doing battle with those people for 30 years so it’s nothing new,” said Flynt.
Allen claims that Flynt has invalidated the plea bargain by selling obscene videos.
“Which is untrue. We’re not selling any of the videos that we were charged for initially. It’s just more harassment by the prosecutor,” Flynt said.
Yet even though Flynt still faces persecution in his home state, he’s optimistic about not only his case in Hamilton County, but also the viability of adult entertainment across the country.
“It’s why they are prosecuting very few obscenity cases in this country. Because prosecutors know they are unable to get convictions,” Flynt suggested.
Flynt notes that while Utah, Kansas, Alabama and Mississippi are still on the “morality bandwagon” more and more Americans are “buying our argument that what consenting adults do or watch or read in the privacy of their own homes is their business.”
In 1999 Flynt was charged with nine counts of pandering obscenity, three counts of disseminating matter harmful to a juvenile, two counts of conspiracy and a count of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity – caring a maximum prison sentence of 24 years in prison. Rather than risk losing his casino license, Flynt plea-bargained the case.
The plea bargain called for Flynt to never sell adult videos again in Hamilton County, something Flynt thinks will not hold up in court considering the recent legal successes in Ohio, including the Jennifer Dute case that was recently tried there.
On June 30, Monday night, Flynt and Jameson will be appearing at Hustler Hollywood in West Hollywood. Tuesday, July 1, they will appear at the San Diego store. Then on Thursday, July 3, Flynt and Jameson will appear at Jimmy Flynt’s Hustler Cincinnati at noon. Then the duo will head over to Monroe, Ohio, for their last signing on the tour. On the Fourth of July itself, Flynt will be on his way home.
