The Federal Court of Appeal overturned regulations banning sales of sex toys in Texas.
All in the South
Keep such a ban. The 5th U. S.
The Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the sale or promotion of obscene equipment by Texas law was illegal and sentenced to two years' imprisonment, violating the privacy rights guaranteed by the 14 th Amendment.
The company, which owns Dreamer's and Le Rouge boutiques, sells the equipment at Austin stores, and retail dealers Adam and Eve filed a lawsuit against the constitutional nature of the law in the federal court in Austin on 2004.
After a federal judge dismissed the suit, they filed an appeal stating that the Constitution did not protect their right to publicly promote the equipment.
The Court of Appeal cited Lawrence and Ghana in its decision on Tuesday. Texas, the U. S.
The Supreme Court's 2003 opinion overturned a ban on same-sex. sex couples.
Like Lawrence, the state here wants to use its laws to enforce public ethics by limiting private intimacy, the appeals judge wrote.
"This case is not about public sex.
This is not controlling business.
It's about controlling what people do privately in their own homes because the state is morally opposed to some kind of voluntary private intimacy.
This is not enough after Lawrence.
Tom Kelly, spokesman for the agency, said: "The Texas attorney general's office, representing the Travis County district attorney, has not yet decided whether to appeal.
Phil Harvey, president of Adam and Eve
He said the decision of the Fifth Circuit court took a big step forward.
He said his business plan was to expand sales at stores and family gatherings because of the law in Texas and the company consultants have been afraid to do so.
"I think it's great, but in my opinion, Texas is one of the three states in the country --
And Mississippi and Alabama.
"This continues to ban sales of sex toys and vibrators, which may have passed," Harvey said on Wednesday . ".
Alabama is on track 11.
But some legal experts say the law in Mississippi is unlikely to be prosecuted now, and it is also in the Fifth Circuit.
Harvey said that Virginia's law to ban obscene objects is a bit different from that of other states and does not seem to apply to the sale of sexual toys. Harvey's company sells nationwide.
There are laws banning obscene equipment in the states of Luis Anna, Kansas, Colorado and Georgia, but the court has rejected them.
The 11 Circuit Court of Appeal rejected a law in Georgia prohibiting sexual toy advertising, which could be sold with some approval.
The decision of the Fifth Circuit Court is encouraging for Sherri Williams, who has been fighting the issue in Alabama for ten years.
Williams, who owns a happy store in Alabama and has banned sex toys from being sold there by state lawmakers, sued in 1998.
A year ago, when the American army attacked, she lost the game again. S.
The Supreme Court refused to consider a lower court ruling in support of the Alabama Constitution.
Williams hopes lawmakers will take note of the recent Texas case and support a new bill by the Alabama state legislature to overturn the ban on adult toy sales.
"I think the court has finally heard from the people," Williams said on Wednesday . ".
"You have" Sex and City "," Desperate Housewives "and other programs that promote what society is doing.
I think the court finally opened its eyes and looked around, which is a miracle in the South.