OH- Suit challenges Ohio obscenity law

7-1-2008 Ohio:

Hustler manager says sex offender registration unconstitutional

CINCINNATI -- A Northern Kentucky mother of two is suing Ohio's attorney general, seeking to overturn part of a new Ohio requiring those convicted of selling obscene material to register as sex offenders.

The woman, identified only as G.B. in the suit, is a manager of the downtown Hustler store that sells magazines, DVDs, videos, lingerie, lotions and other items of a sexual nature.

"She's not been convicted or charged with anything. She's frightened," attorney Lou Sirkin said Monday.

The woman is afraid, Sirkin said, because under the current law, if she sells something at the store that is deemed - even years later - to be obscene, the law requires her to register as a sex offender for 15 years.

Such a conviction and reporting requirement, Sirkin said, likely would result in her two children being kicked out of their Catholic school, because it requires background checks, and would end her volunteering as a school volleyball coach.

A spokesman for the attorney general said Monday his office is aware of the suit and is prepared to defend Ohio laws.

The suit, filed in U.S District Court, seeks to overturn as unconstitutional part of Ohio's version of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, which became effective Jan. 1.

That law stiffened the reporting aspects, resulting in sex offenders or those convicted of certain related crimes - such as pandering obscenity - having to register as sex offenders for longer periods of time.

Someone convicted of pandering obscenity in Ohio could be sent to prison for 12 months and would have to register as a sex offender for 15 years.

That information also is publicly available and posted on government and law-enforcement Web sites and would embarrass G.B., the suit notes.

The suit said the current law violates the woman's rights of free speech and privacy.

Sirkin's suit also attacks Hamilton County officials who have prosecuted obscenity cases.

Sirkin, a longtime lawyer for Hustler publisher Larry Flynt, has battled over obscenity and other First Amendment issues often in Hamilton County, including the 1990 prosecution of the Contemporary Arts Center for a Robert Mapplethorpe exhibit some called obscene.

"G.B. fears facing obscenity charges due to the history of censorship and strict enforcement of obscenity laws in Hamilton County, which includes multiple criminal obscenity charges arising out of Hustler business ventures in Cincinnati," the suit notes.

In the suit, Sirkin wrote that Hamilton County has a "history of censorship and aggressive enforcement of obscenity laws."

Because of the woman's fear of being convicted of pandering obscenity and having to register as a sex offender, she has put off an expansion of the Hustler store downtown, something the store's strong sales suggest should be done, the suit notes.

The suit also seeks an injunction seeking to stop the enforcement of that portion of the Ohio law, for the woman to not be identified further than her initials for the sake of the suit and for the state to pay her attorney fees. ..News Source.. by The Cincinnati Enquirer •