Extreme Associates Heads to the Supreme Court

Following in the footsteps of grandaddy Larry Flynt, Extreme Associates has filed a petition for a Writ of Centiorari with the clerk of the Supreme Court. The Court will now decide whether charges against the porn company will be dropped or they will stand trial for trafficking obscenity.

Though obscenity prosecutions have sharply increased under the current administration, there have been no major obscenity cases for almost a decade. The final outcome of U.S. v. Extreme Associates has far reaching consequences concerning free speech and personal responsibility. Indeed, the petition asks three fundamental questions:

1. "Whether the federal obscenity statutes as applied to the distribution of obscenity in private areas of the Internet, violate the individual right to privately access and view obscene materials."
2. "Whether the Court's previous determinations that the right to privately possess obscenity generates no corollary right to distribute obscenity are valid in light of the Court's emerging understanding of privacy and the advent of the Internet."
3. "Whether Lawrence v. Texas...eliminates Congress' ability to criminalize the distribution of obscenity in private areas of the Internet based solely on concerns for public morality."

These questions were addressed in the original trial and U.S. district Judge, Gary Lancaster dismissed all charges based on readings of the First amendment and prior Supreme Court rulings.

"The government can no longer rely on the advancement of a moral code, i.e., preventing consenting adults from entertaining lewd and lascivious thoughts as a legitimate, let alone a compelling, state interest," Lancaster said.

Last December, a three judge appeals court overturned Judge Lancaster's decision that the U.S. obscenity law was unconstitutional, forcing Extreme Associates' lawyers to appeal to the Supreme Court.

Now, it would be hard to argue that the material produced and distributed by Extreme Associates president, Rob Black, and his wife Lizzy Borden, is not truly obscene. To say they push the limits of good taste is an understatement. Much of their material depicts graphic, albeit simulated, violence towards women, including simulated rapes and killings. But the essence of their case is not about what is or is not offensive, or even psychologically harmful. It is about the boundaries of personal freedom. What can I possess, what can I view, and what can I express? The answers to these questions should be obvious-everything.