What You Need to Know About the Extreme Associates Case

[Aly]

What You Need to Know About the Extreme Associates Case ~by Mark Kernes

PITTSBURGH - The end of obscenity? Don't bet the farm on it... yet.

That's only one of the cautionary pieces of advice from First Amendment attorneys from around the country who, while extremely (no pun intended) gratified by the decision of U.S. District Court Judge Gary Lancaster in the Ashcroft v. Extreme Associates case, brilliantly argued by Cincinnati attorney H. Louis Sirkin, aren't counting their chickens before they're hatched.

"This decision binds no other court and it is very, very possible that other judges in other jurisdictions will disagree as the issue comes before them," wrote J.D. Obenberger, a Chicago-based First Amendment attorney "You can count on the proposition that a motion similar to that granted here will be filed and argued in every obscenity case in which the defendant is represented by capable First Amendment lawyers. Attorney Lou Sirkin of Cincinnati brought this motion, but this was not the first time he advanced the arguments it contained."

Most recently, Sirkin did make such an argument ... ...read more... (it's rather long)