In good ‘ole Alabama an adult store owner and civil rights campaigner has finally lost a nine-year court battle after the U.S Supreme Court refused to hear her challenge to Alabama’s ban on the sale of sex toys. Sheri William’s had asked the justices to throw out the law as an unconstitutional intrusion into the privacy of the bedroom. But the Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal, leaving intact a lower court ruling that upheld the law.
Alabama`s anti-obscenity law, enacted in 1998, bans the distribution of "any device designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs for anything of pecuniary value." The law does not ban the possession of sex toys, and it doesn`t regulate other items, including condoms or virility drugs. Residents may legally purchase sex toys out of state for use in Alabama, or they may buy sexual devices in Alabama that have a "bona fide medical" purpose.
Williams says she plans to continue her fight, and anticipates that the next big question for retailers is what constitutes a "medical purpose". I don’t know about you but I’m a little stumped, what the hell would be a “medical purpose” for a vibrator or anal beads??
