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Adult book, magazine, DVD, video, and toy stores fill an
important role in everyday life. They provide people with a
place to relax from the hectic pace of their daily lives, to
fantasize about sexual possibilities, and to fulfill their
sexual needs.
Stores catering to the sexual interests of adults are a
constitutionally protected form of business. No town or city
council has the right to deny licenses, harass, intimidate,
"clean up", or otherwise make problems for these legitimate
business entities.
Particularly disturbing is how some local governments send vice
squad units to intimidate adult stores and their customers.
Unsuspecting video booth patrons are often harassed by police
for the "crime" of masturbation in a private room, and employees
are often repeatedly asked to show their identification and
proof of age, even when the police know the person by name.
 Questions
and Answers
What are
adult stores?
Adult stores are
shops and businesses that sell pornography, sex toys, and
sexually explicit video entertainment.
Do people
masturbate in those private video booths?
Quite often they do.
Video booths provide people who live with roommates or have
limited privacy at home an inexpensive way to release sexual
tension and take care of their sexual needs.
Are adult
stores legal?
Adult stores are
legal, but they are often subject to heavy regulation from town
boards and city councils, as well as harassment from police vice
squads.
What needs to
be done?
Either Congress must pass a law overturning local restrictions on adult stores, or
the Supreme Court needs to issue a ruling declaring that
laws that make it difficult for adult stores to operate are
unconstitutional because they violate the freedom
 of speech
clause of the First Amendment.
Why are adult
stores so heavily regulated?
Typically it is the
result of efforts by small groups of religious extremists. These
religious groups exert heavy pressure on their local governments
to pass laws making it hard for adult businesses to operate.
Where can I
find out more information on adult stores?
Below is a list of
resources with more information on adult stores.
First Amendment Center -
http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org
American Civil Liberties Union -
http://www.aclu.org
Comic Book Legal Defense Fund -
http://www.cbldf.org
American
Bookseller's Foundation for Free Expression -
http://www.abffe.org
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