Residents willing to fight can do more than shaky laws to keep out an unwanted business.

In the end, a group of Cherry Hill residents got what they wanted. A store that would have sold adult videos and novelties won’t open in the former Kiva Printing building on Route 70 East.

The township has reached a settlement with Partners 70 LLC, owned by Jim Restaino of Union County. The settlement ends an expensive four-year battle that, in the end, serves as an example of how the will of the people can move governments to action.

The law is limited in what it can do. There are only so many restrictions that towns can have in their zoning laws or that state governments can pass. After all, one of the fundamental tenants of the United States is that property owners have rights to do what they want with their property. Communities that impose too many restrictions on property owners and say no too often regularly find themselves on the losing end in court. Such struggles end up costing residents whose taxes pay for such legal fights.

Indeed, Cherry Hill had to defend itself in court after denying a business license in 2005 for Romantic Video and Boutique. Understanding that a full, township-wide prohibition on sex shops wouldn’t stand up in court, township elected officials created special zones for sex shops in 2007. Also, the state Assembly passed bills allowing local officials to restrict the location of sex shops and to require the daytime posting of security guards at schools, school bus stops and child care centers within 3,000 feet of such shops. The bills were later changed.

As Assemblywoman Pamela Lampitt, who moved to amend the bills noted, the rights of property owners as well as the First Amendment limit what the government can force store owners to do.

The township’s sex shop zoning restrictions might stand up over time in court over time. They might not. Same with any state laws. It’s hard to say.

That being the case, we would encourage residents of any community who don’t want a business they consider a nuisance near their homes to lead the charge. Ultimately, it was citizen unrest that not only forced the township to spring to action, but also made opening a store far less attractive to Restaino.

Residents were threatening to post photos online of patrons who entered the store. Protests in front of the store probably would have happened, also. Think any store owner wants to deal with having his customers routinely embarrassed? Of course not. It was easier for Restaino to cut his losses and give up his plan knowing residents were so opposed.

We applaud the residents of Kenwood Avenue and groups, including Cherry Hill Together and the Barclay Area Civic Association. They kept up the pressure and ultimately forced Restaino to consider a settlement rather than build. The people spoke and got the result they desired.

STORY SOURCE: http://www.courierpostonline.com/

An AIDS advocacy group filed complaints Thursday with state officials against 16 production companies that show unprotected sex in porn movies.
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation filed the action with the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, alleging the practice amounts to unsafe behavior in a California workplace.
“We will not stop until there is a policy of requiring condoms to be used in porn,” foundation president Michael Weinstein said.
By law, U.S. adult film actors must prove they have tested negative for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases within 30 days of going to work on a film.
CalOSHA spokesman Dean Fryer said the regulatory agency requires workers in any industry where there is a “possibility of transmission of fluids,” including health care and adult films, to reduce the risk of disease transmission.
“The employers of porn actors are required to provide a safe and healthy work environment,” Fryer said.
Nearly 60 adult DVDs accompany the complaints against Hustler Video, Maverick Entertainment, Vivid and other porn production companies in Los Angeles. Many people in the multibillion-dollar industry oppose the use of condoms in the films.
Hustler publisher Larry Flynt told The Associated Press, “people who enjoy viewing adult films do not want to see people using condoms.”
“While it might provide some additional protection, the sales are not going to be there to make the effort worthwhile for the actors and actresses,” he said.
Flynt praised laws mandating monthly testing for adult film actors as a highly effective way to prevent the spread of AIDS.
Vivid Entertainment head Steven Hirsch agreed.
“If we didn’t think the proper testing was in place, we would do something about it,” he said.
A call to Maverick was not immediately returned.
Weinstein said AIDS could be spread through the on-camera behavior and noted that many people get their sex education from porn movies.
Watching unprotected sex could prompt them to be careless during sex acts, he said.
Former porn actress Jan Meza said she asked about the use of condoms when she first started appearing in adult films in 2006.
“I was told that I would never get work again,” said Meza, who later contracted herpes.
Meza stopped appearing in films in 2007 and went to work for a charity group that provides safe haven to performers who want to leave the industry.
The labor complaints are part of the AIDS advocacy group’s broader campaign to mandate the use of condoms in porn.
Last month, it filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, calling on officials to enforce health and safety rules on adult film sets to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.
In June, CalOSHA inspectors paid a surprise visit to the Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation in San Fernando Valley, a clinic where an adult film actress recently tested positive for HIV.
The inspection was part of a broader investigation into the clinic, which has reported 22 other HIV cases since 2004. At least five performers tested positive for HIV that year, prompting a brief self-imposed moratorium on porn production.
Fryer said CalOSHA is awaiting a court ruling on an injunction sought by the American Civil Liberties Union to prevent the agency from accessing medical files at the clinic.
“Our elected officials and our government are treating the young people who are performing in these films as trash that don’t deserve protection,” Weinstein said.
Weinstein said no state legislators have agreed to sponsor the group’s proposal to mandate condoms in porn movies.
Hirsch said the adult film industry would likely leave California if the use of condoms became mandatory.

Original Story: google.com

A complaint over sex toys sold at a Maine Mall store has prompted an effort to narrow South Portland’s definition of adult business.
Police say a complaint by a customer who was offended by devices sold at Spencer’s Gifts led to months of talks involving police, city officials and lawyers. The man who brought the complaint urged City Hall to reclassify Spencer’s as an adult business and prohibit anyone under 18 from entering the store.
A proposal would require companies that sell sex toys to warn parents with signs at the front of stores or package devices so they cannot be viewed by minors. A lawyer for Spencer’s tells the Portland Press Herald that it already complies with many of the proposed regulations.

Original Story: chron.com

Sen. Manny Villar urged his fellow lawmakers to expedite the passage of bills that seek to prohibit and penalize the posting of videos and photos of sex acts on the Internet.

“We must stop this perversion,” Villar said.

Villar cited the case of actress Katrina Halili who recently filed a complaint against Dr. Hayden Kho for allegedly recording their private sex without her consent at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

Their sex video, along with Kho’s other sex videos with different women, has been posted on several websites in the Internet.

Villar said such acts must be criminalized because it not only destroys an individual’s reputation, but also undermines decency and good values in Philippine society.

Villar said both the Senate and the House of Representatives must speed up action in passing the pending bills pertaining to voyeurism and anti-pornography which are gathering dust in the two chambers.

He said the Senate and the House must come up with a law that will encourage victims to file cases in court and minimize their public humiliation.

He said Congress and the executive department must act immediately to prevent the practice from getting out of control.

“The social cost of sex scandal videos that proliferate on the streets and on the Internet is not easy to measure, but the people are definitely already feeling its effect,” Villar said.

Since the Kho-Halili issue broke, copies of the video have hit the streets and are selling like hotcakes.

Each copy sells as high as P300 per copy. Thousands of copies are reportedly sold every day.

“People buy it and watch it at their homes,” Villar said. “Are we not aware that we are teaching our children twisted values about sex and indecency?”

Villar said lawmakers should focus on making these pending bills responsive to the need for a more decent society.

Original Story:  philstar.com

The University of Oregon’s Ultimate Frisbee club team’s season has been terminated because the male players competed while partially nude.
The team also has a history that includes players throwing drinking parties and being cited for speeding, The (Eugene, Ore.) Register-Guard reported Tuesday.

The university’s five-member student club sports executive committee ended the season for the Ducks, who were ranked third in the nation, during a Monday meeting after officials received a complaint that some members of the men’s team played nude during an April 11 game at Oregon State University.

“If this had been an isolated incident we would have treated it much differently,” committee member Jeff Gibb said. “I’m not sure I can say that I trust the judgment of the Ultimate team — that’s why it’s so hard for me to give you another chance.”

Officials said the team was put on probation in November after throwing a party for more than 200 college Ultimate players in the region. Police were called to the house hosting the party on a noise complaint and discovered five kegs of beer and multiple minors hiding in the home’s attic.

“Speeding, drinking, nudity — they’re not bad things,” team co-captain Dusty Becker told the executive committee. “They’re things a big portion of the community doesn’t think are wrong.”

Original Story: upi.com

Thousands of Kenyan women vowed Wednesday to begin a weeklong sex strike to try to protest their country’s bickering leadership, which they say threatens to revive the bloody chaos that convulsed the African country last year.

Leaders from Kenya’s largest and oldest group dedicated to women’s rights, the Women’s Development Organization, said they hope the boycott will persuade men to pressure the government to make peace.

Eleven women’s groups are participating in the strike. The groups have also called on the wives of President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga to abstain. It was not clear how either wife responded to the request.

“We have looked at all issues which can bring people to talk and we have seen that sex is the answer,” said Rukia Subow, chairman of the Women’s Development Organization. “It does not know tribe, it does not have a (political) party and it happens in the lowest households.”

Sex strikes are rare worldwide. Many men in Kenya are polygamous, as is allowed by law.

Kenyan government spokesman Alfred Mutua said he was unaware of the strike.

The disputed election between Kibaki and then-challenger Odinga led to violence that killed more than 1,000 people and left more than 600,000 homeless. The two were installed after a month of mediation, but infighting has threatened to break apart the fragile coalition.

Original Story: sfgate.com