Phoenix Obscenity Verdict
- posted by Jim Leitzel @ 11:48 PM

[Standard disclaimer: the links in this post are not safe for work.] First, all the humans whom the feds originally charged with obscenity offenses had charges dropped or were found innocent before the jury was called upon to decide their fate. The only parties left on trial, therefore, were two corporations. The original charges concerned four DVDs, but one of those was dropped from the case, too. So in the Incredible Shrinking Porn case, the jury split on the remaining charges: two of the DVDs were not obscene, the jury said, and one was. Whew -- at least the feds got something. But they might even lose this upon appeal, when the judge's decision not to allow in evidence that similar DVDs were sold at numerous places in the Phoenix area -- and hence might not really violate those community standards -- might be re-assessed.

What a waste of time and money this whole prosecution has been. We can be thankful that no one has gone to jail, which not only is extremely unpleasant for those involved but sentences the taxpayers to forking over still more resources to save Phoenix from the likes of Gag Factor 18. We did manage to learn from the trial, however, that Filthy Things 6 and American Bukakke 13 are not legally obscene in Phoenix.

Labels: obscenity