SPARTANBURG, SC – Attorneys for “Priscilla’s,” an adult shop raided by local law enforcement last month, say deputies violated the company’s constitutional rights by seizing over two dozen movies and 500 novelty items, mostly sex toys. Now Priscilla’s is suing the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office to get its merchandise back.Not surprisingly, the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office has a different view of the situation. Sheriff Chuck Wright said last month’s raid was legal and no items will be returned.
“They’re not getting anything until the lawsuit’s through and we go through the courts,” Wright said Tuesday. “They can demand all they want.”
University of South Carolina law professor Andrew Siegel said he was unaware of any law in South Carolina specifically prohibiting the sale of sex toys.
“General obscenity laws used to be used many a generation ago to prosecute for sexual aids and sex toys as well as pictures,” Siegel said. Siegel added that such application of obscenity laws, however, represents “an archaic interpretation of the law that doesn’t stand up to the modern obscenity definition.”
Sheriff’s Major Daniel Johnson said he couldn’t recall another instance in which his office had raided a store based solely on the sale of novelties. He would not address the issues raised in the store’s lawsuit, but did say he thought the sex toys were seized as “supporting evidence” in the obscenity case being pressed against the store.
The case against Priscilla’s began with an undercover officer obtaining a sexually-explicit video from the store. The officer then showed the video to the local prosecutor, and obtained a warrant for the raid conducted on January 13th, according to Johnson.
Priscilla’s lawsuit, filed last week in federal court, alleges that officers violated Priscilla’s First Amendment-protected right to free speech, protection against unreasonable search and seizure and right to due process.
Prosecutor Trey Gowdy has said he will meet with attorneys for two clerks arrested during the raid at Priscilla’s, and immediately return any items that both sides agree don’t rise to the level of obscene materials.
Siegel said he thought Priscilla’s owners had several good points in their case, including the broad scope of the seizure.
The sheriffs “grabbed things that aren’t normally seized in the modern era,” Siegel said, noting that the approach here is reminiscent of obscenity raids conducted in the past when “police used to use raids as a tactic to shut down the stores. It didn’t matter whether they could get a conviction.”
With their doors closed and no products to sell, the stores soon went out of business, Siegel added.
According to reports from Fox affiliates in South Carolina, two other adult shops were raided by the Spartanburg Sheriff’s Office last month, as well. No word yet on whether the other stores will follow Priscilla’s lead and sue to recover confiscated merchandise.
