legal

Bookmarks

by Viviane on 07/16/2010

in del.icio.us, sex

  • Love in the Age of the Pickup Artist | Stendhal Among the Seducers | The Point Magazine – In other words, it is not enough that playfulness be taken up in the service of seriousness; the seriousness must always be present alongside the playfulness, bound up with it in a constant synthesis. This means that the lover will have to show his hand every once in a while, even if he is quick to hide it again. And this also means that love will always bring with it some portion of terror. Because his heart is at stake, the lover will feel the terror of losing the beloved, even in the moment she gives herself to him. This is the terror the seducer believes he has bypassed. Maybe he has—but in doing so the chance for love has slipped through his fingers. Because he does not sow, he cannot reap. There is no way around this.
  • Study: Fish-oil supplements may cut breast-cancer risk | Seattle Times Newspaper – Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center surveyed more than 35,000 postmenopausal women in Western Washington and found that those who took omega-3 fish-oil supplements had a 32 percent lower incidence of breast cancer, but senior author Emily White doesn't recommend that women begin taking the highly touted capsules.
  • Star Witness Makes a Liar out of Stagliano’s Prosecution – Reason Magazine – The prosecution can no longer vouch for the integrity of its own star witness. FBI Special Agent Bradley is the only one to testify that he watched the entire content of the films in question and deemed them obscene, so if the prosecution has serious doubts about the honesty and accuracy of his testimony, the government has a responsibility to not present that testimony to the jury. And there are good reasons for doubting Bradley.<br />
    <br />
    In Thursday's proceedings, Bradley claimed that prosecutor Pamela Satterfield told him to review the movies before the trial began at the behest of Judge Richard Leon, so that he could recall better on the witness stand basic elements of the movies, including action and dialogue. If Bradley's statement is true, it would be a shocking breach of ethics by Judge Leon—you can't have impartial arbiters helping the prosecution prepare witnesses.
  • What turns women on: less kitsch, more context – The Globe and Mail – Swedish filmmaker Erika Lust favours everyday hook-up scenarios and modern apartment settings over Mafia dons on yachts.<br />
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    Female-friendly erotica features the guy next door and showcases the bed linens, says filmmaker Erika Lust

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Bookmarks

by Viviane on 07/15/2010

in del.icio.us, sex

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Bookmarks

by Viviane on 07/14/2010

in del.icio.us, sex

  • Fox Television Stations, Inc. v. FCC | 2nd Circuit (text of opinion) – “the FCC’s policy violates the First Amendment because it is unconstitutionally vague, creatin.g a chilling effect that goes far beyond the fleeting expletives at issue here.
  • Supreme Court Strikes Down FCC’s Indecency Policy – WSJ.com – A three-judge panel of the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York said the Federal Communications Commission’s indecency policies violate the First Amendment and are “unconstitutionally vague, creating a chilling effect that goes far beyond the fleeting expletives at issue here.” (Fox v. FCC)
  • “Buttman’s” porn obscenity trial: Why it matters | Salon.com – Whatever the outcome, the moment in our legal history when at last we recognize that community is now everybody with a computer, that “prurience” is in all our cable boxes and our hotel rooms — and that civilization has somehow managed to continue to exist anyway — may soon be upon us.
  • IML 2010 and Getting Real About Contests | Race Bannon – I now liken the contest circuit to the court system within the larger LGBT community. It has its own community, priorities, protocols, rituals, honors, awards and social constructs. It is a subset of the overall LGBT community, but does not necessarily “represent” that entire community in the sense that not all LGBT folks relate to the court system or its adherents. They might attend a court event or mix socially with court members and winners, but that doesn’t mean they relate to them personally whatsoever. That’s not a judgment, just an observation.

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Bookmarks

by Viviane on 07/09/2010

in del.icio.us, sex

  • Making a Hot Mess out of “Feminist” TV | where is your line? – My experience in the hot seat of Hot Mess reminded me – like a slap in the face- a few basic media principles. As a filmmaker and producer, respect your subjects. They are not objects or props to be used or humiliated. Honor them. And as a subject and author of your life, remember – your story is your story. It is sacred, precious and individually yours. Find and maintain your boundaries about how and with whom you share your story. Call the shots and don’t forget you’re in control.
  • Federal Judge In Boston Rules Gay Marriage Ban Unconstitutional – The federal law banning gay marriage is unconstitutional because it interferes with the right of a state to define the institution and therefore denies married gay couples some federal benefits, a federal judge ruled Thursday in Boston.
  • Sex and Infertility – How infertility makes sex more difficult | Cory Silverberg – The impact of infertility (real or suspected) on your sex life can be enormous. Sex that is timed and filled with anxiety about the outcome quickly becomes mechanical and forced. What was once an intense expression of love, desire, and commitment can feel like an obligation, an expectation — and practically coercive.

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High court reinstates conviction of sex trafficker (CNN)

by Viviane on 06/01/2010

in crime, legal

Washington (CNN) – The criminal conviction of a sex trafficker known as the “S&M Svengali” was reinstated by the Supreme Court on Monday.

The case gave the justices a rare visit to the shadowy world of sadomasochism and sex slavery.

The high court by a 7-1 vote allowed the original conviction of Glenn Marcus to stand. He had been sentenced to nine years in prison for the sexual abuse, physical mutilation, and psychological humiliation of a woman who had agreed to be photographed as his “sex slave.”

A federal appeals court in New York had dismissed the entire conviction, saying some of the offenses occurred before the 2000 Trafficking Victims Protection Act, which was used to prosecute Marcus.

But Justice Stephen Breyer said the procedural violations in this case were not so severe to justify throwing out the entire case, since some of the offenses clearly occurred after the law was passed.

“Given the tiny risk that the jury would have based its conviction upon those few pre-enactment days alone,” said Breyer, “a refusal to recognize such an error as a ‘plain error’; [and to set aside the verdict] is most unlikely to cast serious doubt on the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of the judicial system.”

Establishing a clear standard for “plain error” review when setting aside convictions has been a particularly tricky area of law for the Supreme Court in recent years.

Link

See also:

Second Circuit’s “plain error” standard struck down in Marcus (SCOTUSblog)

United States v. Marcus (08-1341) (Legal Information Institute)

ABA: U.S. Supreme Court Update (Criminal Law Library Blog)

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Sex blogger wins libel case against Independent on Sunday (Guardian News)

by Viviane on 05/24/2010

in legal, sexbloggers

Zoe Margolis, the writer behind the Girl With a One Track Mind blog and books, has won libel damages after the Independent on Sunday called her a “hooker” in a headline.Margolis launched a libel action against the newspaper after it referred to her as a “hooker” in a headline on an article on 7 March that she wrote for them, which was in the paper and online.The article, which was published with the headline “I was a hooker who became an agony aunt”, was about attitudes to women and sex.Margolis launched legal proceedings against the title&apos;s then-owner, Independent News & Media. The parties have reached an out-of-court settlement.

Congratulations, Zoe!

Link

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Bookmarks

by Viviane on 05/04/2010

in del.icio.us, sex

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Bookmarks

by Viviane on 04/19/2010

in del.icio.us, sex

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Bookmarks

by Viviane on 04/08/2010

in del.icio.us, sex

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Bookmarks for February 25th

by Viviane on 02/25/2010

in del.icio.us, sex

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Bookmarks for October 25th through October 26th

by Viviane on 10/27/2009

in del.icio.us, sex

These are my links for October 25th through October 26th:

  • Scary Sex Toys – Sex Toys That Are More Scary Than Sexy | Cory Silverberg – the sex toys below are ghoulish not just in their looks, but in misguided conception, poor design, and sometimes obvious danger.
  • Social Networking – Legal and Ethical Issues for Lawyers and Investigators | Private Investigator Public Records Internet Search Privacy Reporting – PI Buzz – Much of the discussion concerned access to profile content, – the difference between civil and criminal (where there’s the familiar prosecution/defense imbalance) cases – whether certain information should be private even if it can be viewed by unintended parties.
  • Kids and Sexy Costumes: The Problem With Halloween | BlogHer – Without a doubt, Halloween is a survivor; one that sticks around by absorbing the qualities of the culture in prominence where the holiday is celebrated. The truth of the matter is that Halloween is not a holiday for kids. The shift to kids is a very recent thing in its epic history, and I think the emergence of more and more sexualized costumes is both a reflection of our culture’s attitudes toward sex and an attempt to take the holiday back.
  • Dr. Dick on Demand: Sex and the Aging Male – I’m receiving a startling number of correspondences lately from older men and their partners, highlighting the sexual difficulties of the aging process. It’s not surprising that these people are noticing the changes in their sexual response cycle as they age, but it is astonishing that they haven’t attributed the changes to andropause.
  • Editorial – Oklahoma vs. Women – NYTimes.com – What persuaded the judge was not the affront to women’s rights, but a technical defect: the law addressed disparate issues in one bill in violation of the state’s Constitution. Still, the victory for reproductive freedom is heartening.
  • How to Talk to Kids About Pornography – Tips for Parents on Talking to their Kids About Pornography | Cory Silverberg – If I could only give you one reason why you should at least think about talking to your kids about pornography it’s that, if statistics are to be believed, they are likely to encounter some of it before they reach an age where they’ll be able to critically understand what they are seeing.
  • Google Docs Batch Export – Now you can export all your documents, spreadsheets, presentations and PDFs from Google Docs in a ZIP archive.
  • Time to boycott Scholastic Books? Lauren Myracle’s ‘Luv Ya Bunches’ banned from school book fairs – Last week theSchool Library Journal and other sources reported that Scholastic Books is banning Luv Ya Bunches (a young adult novel by Lauren Myracle) from its book fairs because one of the main characters has gay parents and thus fails to “meet the norms of the various communities that host the fairs.”
  • Rainbow Response Coalition – Welcome to the home page of Rainbow Response, a grassroots coalition that brings together organizations and leaders from the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning (LGBTQ) communities, along with traditional domestic violence service providers and government agencies. We collaborate to increase the awareness about Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) amid the relationships of LGBTQ individuals, educating within the LGBTQ communities and beyond.

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Homosexuality no crime: Delhi High Court – India (Times of India)

by Viviane on 07/02/2009

in legal

NEW DELHI: In a historic judgement, the Delhi High Court on Thursday decriminalized homosexuality by reading down section 377 of the Indian

The Section 377 of the IPC as far as it criminalizes gay sex among consenting adults is violation of fundamental rights, said the high court. However, Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code which criminalizes homosexuality, will continue for non-consensual and non-vaginal sex.

Any kind of discrimination is anti-thesis of right to equality, said the court, while allowing plea of gay rights activists for decriminalization of homosexuality.

Our reporter Smriti Singh from the court sketched the rejoice of the LGBT community.

Soon after the judgement, the supporters of the LGBT rejoiced the moment of victory and called it as the “first step to a better future”. “Great moment for us, we are hoping that the court will pass an order in our favor, we have kept our finger-across,” she further added.

Link

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Linkage for 2006-0527

by Viviane on 05/27/2009

in Links for

LA Times article on the upholding of Proposition 8:
“The justices uphold the same-sex marriage ban but also rule that the 18,000 gay couples who wed before November will stay married. The decision is sure to spark another ballot box fight.”

American Foundation for Equal Rights is supporting the lawsuit filed by top litigators Ted Olson and David Boies.

Above the Law has a post on the backstory of the Sonia Sotomayor nomination for the U.S. Supreme Court:
“This afternoon, we participated in a conference call between a senior Administration official and several reporters, to discuss the Sotomayor nomination. Here’s a quick write-up of the call.”

SCOTUS Blog discusses the likely lines of attack that will be directed at her:
” But the most extreme interest groups and ideologues are transparently uninterested in that reasoned debate as they rush to caricature the nominee and the opposing viewpoint.”

Deng Yu Jiao, a female hotel worker in Hunan province, China, stabbed to death a local party after he demanded sex from her. There’s been a lot of public support for her case and she’s been promised a fair trial.

NYC Comptroller William Thompson has issued a report declaring that marriage equality for LGBT couples would garner the state an additional $210M in revenue in the first three years. [Joe.My.God]

If you attended Sex 2.0, please fill out the survey and read about the 2010 Steering Committee.

An article at RH Reality Check analyzes AT&T vs. Hulteen:

“The case examined the pension payments for a number of former female employees of AT&T who had taken maternity leave before passage of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, which clarified that under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act pregnancy discrimination counted as sex discrimination. Now, AT&T is defining unpaid maternity of these employees as personal leave from the company.  And the court has now ruled that such personal leave doesn’t and shouldn’t count toward these women’s pensions.”

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GA court tells gay dad he cannnot “expose” kids to homosexuals (Pink News)

by Viviane on 02/19/2009

in legal

A gay man in the US state of Georgia is disputing a child custody agreement restriction which prohibits him from “exposing his children to his homosexual partners and friends.”

Lambda Legal, a gay rights advocacy group, yesterday filed an amicus brief in support of Eric Mongerson at the Georgia Supreme Court.

The brief argues that restrictions on custody arrangements should not be determined based on sexual orientation and that no evidence exists that contact with gay acquaintances of their father is harmful.

“The court should do what it always does in divorce cases with custody issues, which is to focus on the needs of the children,” said Beth Littrell, Staff Attorney in Lambda Legal’s Southern Regional Office.

More . . ..

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Courage Campaign: Don’t Divorce Us!

by Viviane on 02/09/2009

in gay marriage


“Fidelity”: Don’t Divorce… from Courage Campaign on Vimeo.
“Fidelity” used with permission from Regina Spektor and EMI Records.

Watch the video and sign the Courage Campaign’s letter to the California Supreme Court. Tell the Supreme Court to invalidate Prop 8, reject Ken Starr’s case, and let loving, committed couples marry.

DEADLINE: Valentine’s Day

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