A federal judge in Washington, D.C., refused to dismiss a case against pornography producers who were charged with trafficking hard-core porn films across state lines and displaying illicit movie trailers online. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon rejected their claim that federal obscenity laws are unconstitutional.
John Stagliano, John Stagliano Inc. and Evil Angel Productions Inc. were indicted on seven criminal counts after an FBI investigation yielded evidence that they were illegally distributing porn. During the investigation, FBI agents used the defendants' Web site to order two films, "Milk Nymphos" and "Storm Squirters 2 'Target Practice.'" An FBI agent in Washington also downloaded a free trailer called "Fetish Fanatic Chapter 5."
The filmmakers were indicted on seven counts for illegal possession, distribution and sale of the obscene materials.
Stagliano and Evil Angel claimed that federal laws criminalizing the interstate trafficking of obscenity were unconstitutional.
They argued that the law barring a Web site from displaying obscene materials was unconstitutionally vague and overbroad, because made online material "subject to the community standards of the most conservative jurisdictions in the country."
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Porn Producer John Stagliano Loses Case Against Obscenity Laws
Courthouse News reports:
