Lori Hemphill was simply working her shift at the Log Cabin under I-20 and I-820 in the Kennedale community of Fort Worth, Texas, when she was placed under arrest by the undercover cop to whom she’d just sold an adult video.
The charge? “Promoting obscenity.” The agenda? A campaign by Kennedale Mayor Jim Norwood — a pastor — to abolish adult stores in the area. This was on March 10, and since then, Hemphill has been placed on probation, denied any other sort of work, forced to put off her plans to attend nursing school, enrolled in state-supported psychiatric and financial assistance programs and even reduced to begging for food.
Meanwhile, the Log Cabin and the other adult stores in the area remain thriving.
“I was informed verbally when hired that there is always a chance of getting a ticket or arrested working in an adult environment,” Hemphill told AVN.com. “However, I was also told that the last arrest was over five years ago and that the case was dismissed and in fact monetary rewards were given to the arrested.”
Hemphill is very clear in specifying that her gripe is with Mayor Norwood, and not the Log Cabin. In fact, she believes her job at the Log Cabin to have been a divine blessing.
“After nine years with [an unnamed] company, I was let go and my unemployment paychecks were running out,” she explained. “On July 4 [of 2004](a Sunday) I went to worship at “The Slab,” which is a tent church that feeds the homeless after service. I knelt down and spoke with God about my jobless situation. I prayed hard and told God I couldn’t do this alone and needed His help. I kid you not; the very next day the manager of Log Cabin offered me a job. I truly believe that God gave me that job. I wonder what the local church community and Pastor/Mayor Jim Norwood himself would think of that. God gave me that job for a reason, I am not sure what the reason is or was, but God gave me that job.”
According to Hemphill, there were four other arrests made in connection with the sting, and only one of those arrestees has returned to work, as far as she is aware.
While awaiting the dismissal of her case that she was told many times over would “likely” be granted, Hemphill has researched Texas law and found there is no statute against “promoting obscenity.”
“The way I understand it is, ‘obscenity’ is not in the main law books,” Hemphill said. “‘Obscenity’ is determined by the local community standards and in this case Mayor Jim Norwood’s community of Kennedale.”
Her first method of fighting this charge was to pen a letter to mayor Norwood (reprinted below) rebuking him for the hardship his crusade to “better society” has brought upon her. She believes this battle to be a product of fear and misunderstanding, and she expresses concern that it will eventually be borne by other members of the population.
“It seems that anything not understood is considered abnormal. Not understanding is the underlying structure for fear and what we fear we fight,” Hemphill said. “Soon we will all be arrested and condemned on what is not understood based on who determines what is normal. Gothic kids will be arrested for wearing black clothes, colored hair and rings in their eyebrows, all because someone may think that is not normal.”
Following is Hemphill’s letter to Mayor Norwood:
August 3, 2005
Hero or Murder
Dear Mayor of Kennedale,
I would like you to know just how successful you were on your campaign to shut down the adult novelty stores in your area. You were so successful that they continue fully operational. The owners of the stores still flourish and the income of the stores still flourish; however, you did succeed with creating a victim. I am one of those victims. I am YOUR victim.
I was an employee at the Log Cabin on 5405 Highridge Ct. Fort Worth, TX 76140. I worked 5 to 6 days a week making $6.00 an hour as a cashier. I was a productive employee as well as a productive person of society. I was paying taxes, paying bills and attending school with the intention of applying for Nursing School for a RN degree at TCC. Things were going well for me until you came along to “Make a better society.”
I came to work one morning only to find myself arrested for “promoting obscenity.” The only promotion I did was ring up a sale on the cash register for a potential customer. That customer turned out to be an undercover police officer. For some odd reason, it seems that it is not illegal to watch an adult video or even purchase one for ownership; however, I was arrested for promoting something that is not even illegal to purchase. I don’t understand nor will I ever.
I am not sure what you were trying to do, but hurting the business and owners of the business evidently could not be accomplished, for they still flourish. Unfortunately, I am no longer flourishing. I have been out of a job since March of this year at the suggestion of my lawyer. He suggested that I quit and plead guilty to the charge of “Promoting Obscenity.” The company took care of all the fines that occurred because of this arrest, but the only one hurt was myself and another employee arrested for the same.
I am now on probation for a year and have been unsuccessful at getting another job due this charge being on my record. I am not asking much in the way of a job, just some work to do that will pay the bills and put food on my table. I am being denied the ability to support myself and stay off welfare because of you and this ridiculous charge. Today Dollar General turned me down based on a background check where this charge shows. Even though theses charges do not show as a conviction as of yet, thanks to deferred adjudication for a year, companies such as Dollar General do not seem to consider someone with these charges as employable.
I wish to ask you, Are you a Hero or a Murder? Are you a Hero? Did you succeed in shutting down all these stores? I think not! They are still in full operation and still being supported financially by our fellow citizens in their purchases. Or are you a Murder of an individual who was trying to make a living, pay the bills, provide food for the table and go to school to become better person.
Since my arrest and charges, I have been reduced to seeing a probation office, getting psychiatric help through a state supported hospital and seeking financial assistance through the state of Texas. In my opinion, the working taxpayers of Texas are the Heroes and I used to be one of those heroes. Today for the first time I had to beg for food. I have never been so humiliated or felt so lost as I did today.
No Mr. Mayor, you are not a Hero, you are a Murder and I am your victim. You have murdered my chances of success in this life, my ability to support myself and help the fellow Taxpayers of Texas. You have also Murdered any chance of success of my becoming a Nurse in the future, because even Nursing schools must do a criminal background check and Mr. Mayor if that isn’t enough, you have murdered my ambition and my soul all because I was working for a living and cashed out a video to a legal paying customer.
I imagine you will have no feelings one way or the other on my predicament since you caused it, and I am sure nothing will come of my letter, but I will be sending this letter out to anyone who will put it into print and take the time to read it. I want people to know just how much of a hero you are.
Your Victim
