Texans get a special Valentine

Here’s some good news for the good citizens of Texas. A federal appeals court has struck down a law there that makes sex toys illegal.

According to the following article, it has been against the law for anyone to possess six or more sexual devices in Texas since the 1970s.

It is difficult for someone like me who lives in liberal California to believe that there are places in this country where people don’t have the right to own a dildo.

This is why I would never move to a place like Texas, Mississippi, Alabama or Virginia where people try to legislate morality.

Court overturns Texas ban on sex toys
Federal appeals court says law violates constitutional right to privacy.

By Steven Kreytak

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Thursday, February 14, 2008

A federal appeals court has struck down a Texas law that makes it a crime to promote or sell sex toys.

“Whatever one might think or believe about the use of these devices,” said an opinion written by Justice Thomas M. Reavley of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, “government interference with their personal and private use violates the Constitution.”

Under Texas law it is illegal to sell, advertise, give or lend obscene devices, defined as a device used primarily for sexual stimulation. Anyone in possession of six or more sexual devices is considered to be promoting them.

The Texas law dates back to the 1970s and is seldom enforced. Travis County prosecutors say that they haven’t charged anyone with a sexual device-related crime in at least the past seven years, and probably much longer.

In 2003, a woman in the Fort Worth suburb of Burleson drew nationwide attention when she was arrested for selling erotic toys at a Tupperware-type party. The charges against Joanne Webb were later dropped.

In addition to Texas, whose law has survived previous state court challenges, three other states have a similar sex toys statute: Mississippi, Alabama and Virginia. Laws in Louisiana, Kansas, Colorado and Georgia have been thrown out by courts in recent years.

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