LAKELAND, FL – Adult webmaster and former police officer Chris Wilson, the owner of the adult website NowThatsFuckedUp.com, was freed from jail Thursday after the Second District Court of Appeals ordered his immediate release.Wilson was charged earlier this year with 301 counts of distributing obscenity, supposedly because of sexually explicit images on his website; although some have argued that Wilson was really targeted because his website also displayed graphic and uncensored war images from Iraq, images which are clearly protected by the First Amendment. Although Wilson posted bail on the original charges of obscenity, prosecutors had Wilson sent back to jail after he continued to operate his adult website following his initial release. Even though Wilson had removed the original images that led to the 301 obscenity charges, prosecutors alleged the remaining images constituted a violation of the terms of his release. Wilson’s attorneys and various First Amendment groups were shocked when the presiding judge returned Wilson to jail even though none of the images on his site had yet been found to be legally obscene.
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals order came after previous emergency appeals by Wilson’s attorney had been denied. Emergency appeals to the Second Circuit, the Florida Supreme Court and the US Supreme Court had all proved fruitless prior to Thursday’s developments. The court offered no immediate reason for the latest order, although Wilson’s attorney had argued in court that his rights were being violated since Wilson was being punished for images that had not yet been found obscene.
“We’re obviously elated by the court’s order, and anxious to see the full opinion of the court detailing the reasons why Mr. Wilson’s detention has been found to be illegal,” said Wilson’s attorney Larry Walters, a noted First Amendment attorney experienced in adult entertainment issues. “The full opinion should be released soon.”
“Currently, we’re focusing on the logistics of our client’s release, and working with the family to coordinate retrieval from the jail,” Walters added.
After his initial release, Wilson made a number of changes to his website. The alleged obscene images were removed, and the raunchier elements of his site were tamed down. The war images from Iraq, however, remained online. These changes proved inadequate, as Wilson was returned to jail on December 16th. Just prior to that ruling, and in anticipation of his bond revocation hearing, Wilson had removed all adult images from the website – and now only the images from Iraq remain.
According to Wilson’s attorney, the state of Florida ignored the law when it sent Wilson back to jail on the 16th.
“Mr. Wilson never intended to violate any condition of release, and has always tried to comply with any restrictions of which he was aware,” Walters said. “The state just went too far in trying to use continued operation of the website against him as a basis for revoking bond. The First Amendment allows all citizens to communicate through the internet, and nobody should be punished for engaging in free expression before anything has been found illegal or obscene.
“It is unfortunate that Chris Wilson needed to endure this unlawful and unnecessary stay in custody, and we look forward to fully vindicating our client’s rights in the future,” Walters added.
