Like this one?
Blast off! Which reminds me of the scene from the movie "Top Secret where they discuss the guy that plugs the U.S. 120 volt "device" into the European 220 volt?
Posted on 04/14/2004 6:30:36 AM PDT by WKB
High court recently upheld ban; merchants decry restrictions
Pointing to an empty wall where sex toys were once displayed, the Adult Video and Bookstore clerk's voice rose.
"They about put us out of business," she said, declining to give her name. "How are they going to tell a man what to do in the privacy of his own home?"
Jackson police have ordered Adult Video and Bookstore, Terry Road Book Store and Heritage Video Inc. to remove their sex toys. The city is cracking down after the state Supreme Court last month upheld a state law that bans the sale of sex toys.
The law defines as illegal any device used primarily for stimulation of human genitalia. The fine is $500.
A Terry Road Book Store employee didn't want to discuss the crackdown.
"They said to take them down. I took them down," she said, declining to give her name.
Adult Video and Bookstore employees said they were outraged at restrictions on what they can and cannot sell. "I don't think it's right," one clerk said. "Sex is in every home in the world."
A co-worker agreed. "We don't push it on anybody."
Adam and Eve and ZJ Gifts LLC, the Memphis-based owner of Christal's chain of adult stores, sued the state of Mississippi in 2001, contending the state law thwarted the rights of customers to purchase adult toys.
Last month, the state Supreme Court ruled there is no fundamental right of access to buy sexual devices. Advertising of the sexual devices also is not protected by the right to free speech, the court ruled.
Doctors and psychologists, however, may prescribe sexual devices for their patients, the court said.
Jackson police hadn't enforced the law in a few years because it was on appeal, Jackson police Sgt. William Gladney said.
The ordinance divides Mississippians.
"I think it's a good law," said Paula Nevels, 50, of Vicksburg. "I think (sex toy use) leads to pornography and that leads to our children being exploited. I think a lot of it is perverted, anyway."
Calvin Miner, 27, of Jackson said he doesn't see what is the big deal.
"It really doesn't matter to me, but I don't think they should ban it," Miner said. "Everybody has their own preferences. It's your own choice."
People who own sex toys shouldn't worry, Gladney said. "We're not going into people's houses," he said.
But it is illegal to have sex toy parties where devices are sold from home, Gladney said.
It is constitutional, but stupid.
I swear, officer! It's a rubber model rocket!
But miss it you did.
I believe that a state banning PETA, hunting, Greenpeace, or logging might find themselves in a constitutional bind. (Thank you for not saying, "What if a state wanted slavery?")
"even though their actions do no direct harm"
(Picture me holding my right arm, fully extended over my head, hand bent at the wrist. Got that picture? Good.)
I have had it up to here with this "no direct harm" bull$hit. Who says our laws must be written to cover "direct harm" only? Why is this now the standard that must be met? Since friggin' when?
There is such a thing as indirect harm. There is such a thing as societal standards. There is such a thing as creating and maintaining an environment in which to raise the next generation.
Legislating morality? Sure it is. ALL of our laws legislate morality. If the majority of the people of a state wish to write a constitutional law that excludes something they believe causes indirect harm, or that is against their standards, or interferes with the raising of children, why can't they?
This article should be a dog-bites-man non-issue.
And if they didn't, they should have.
Yes, and you won't get much argument that a state *can* pass a law like this. The question is, *should* they? It appears that you think it's just fine for a state to regulate the private sex lives of consenting adults. This does not put you on the side of individual freedom and limited government.
Like this one?
Blast off! Which reminds me of the scene from the movie "Top Secret where they discuss the guy that plugs the U.S. 120 volt "device" into the European 220 volt?
WHAT?? Where did you come up with this little ditty? One, this isn't about me, this is about the people of the state of Mississippi and what they want. Two, who's regulating the "private sex lives of consenting adults"? The law bans the public sales of certain products. Period.
"This does not put you on the side of individual freedom and limited government."
Is that what you call it? Individual freedom? I can almost hear the patriotic music in the background.
Well, it appears that the citizens of the state of Mississippi call it selfish, self-centered, individualistic, immoral, and hedonistic behavior that goes against the way they wish to live.
How dare they decide how they want to live!
We don't even need direct harm these days to ban something that's unpopular. Look at the anti-smoking agenda. Societal standards and indirect harm are only smokescreens for the true agenda of people using the government to force others to act and believe just as they do.
You completely missed the PETA and Greenpeace points. This woman and other "conservative" activists are exactly like those liberal organizations. They state something does harm with no proof, then seek to stop it using their influence on the government. The only difference between them is what they want banned.
(It's obvious Ms. Nevels has not had sex since the 70's...)
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