Even after John Haltom, co-owner of adult retail chain Dr. John's, was jailed on an obscenity conviction earlier this month he didn't quit fighting – he started running radio ads.
He is currently serving a nine-month sentence for an obscenity conviction in Omaha, in a three-year battle that was the first test of obscenity laws in Nebraska since the 1970s.
The ads are part promotion for his Dr. John's adult stores, and part call to action. Haltom wants people to write their elected officials about his case. He said, "The everyday person in Omaha and Nebraska has to realize that they have to stand up and fight for their rights, or they won't have any. Their kids won't have any."
A jury convicted Haltom in July 2000 and the Nebraska Supreme Court upheld his nine-month jail sentence last fall. Earlier this month Haltom ordered to serve that sentence and to pay a $1,000 fine.
Haltom has been convicted and paid fines three other times in Omaha for selling obscene materials, which under Nebraska law means that the state could shut his stores down. Haltom avoided that by selling his store to someone else.
In May, Haltom lost a Utah Supreme Court Appeal challenging the constitutionality of the state's sexually oriented licensing law. While his two stores in Utah remain open, all adult merchandise has been removed.
Haltom, who has been in adult retail for 16 years, is co-owner of Dr. John's, Inc. which has locations in Nebraska, Utah, Colorado and Missouri.
Despite legal problems, Haltom plans six more stores across the country within the next year, including two more in Omaha.
