A federal judge has barred the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission from seizing adult materials unless a judge deems it obscene.
U.S. District Judge Gray Miller said Monday that the agency’s practice of seizing pornographic materials it deems obscene violates the constitutional guarantees of free speech, the Houston Chronicle reported. Miller also ruled a law that allowed such seizures unconstitutional.
Miller’s ruling is part of a 2003 lawsuit filed by Houston-based Carico Distributing Co. which distributes adult materials in Texas. The company sued the agency after it conducted repeated raids on liquor and convenience stores that carry its adult magazines and videos.
Neither the Texas Attorney General’s Office, which represented the agency, nor commission officials would comment.
In ordering a permanent injunction on seizures, Miller said the agency could only seize adult materials after a judge determined that they were obscene. He also struck down as unconstitutional a law that forbids stores with licenses from the commission to carry or display “immoral, indecent, lewd or profane” materials.
