DENVER, CO – U.S. District Court Judge Walker D. Miller has yet to issue a decision on the Free Speech Coalition’s motion for a preliminary injunction in Free Speech Coalition v. Gonzalez, leaving both parties to the case – and a concerned adult industry – to anxiously await his judgment.“Every time the phone rings, my heart jumps,” joked FSC Chairman Jeffrey Douglas. “Michael Gross (attorney from Schwartz & Goldberg, located in Denver) called me, and when I saw that 303 area code, I thought ‘This is it!’”
Under an agreement brokered with the Department of Justice in June, the DOJ agreed not to initiate any inspections of anyone who was an active member of the DOJ by the cutoff of 2PM on June 23rd 2005 until the judge issued a ruling on the injunction, or until 30 days after the initial hearing, whichever came first. Since the hearing took place on August 2nd, the agreement is scheduled to expire September 1st.
Douglas said that the judge has the authority to extend the FSC/DOJ agreement if he has not come to a decision by the end of the month, and that if the judge does not reach a decision by the deadline, “very likely he will do that.” Douglas added, however, that the judge will most likely reach a decision before August 31st.
Should Miller opt to grant the injunction, Douglas noted that the judge is not bound by the June 25th FSC membership deadline that was included in the agreement struck between the FSC and DOJ, leaving open the possibility that future FSC members may benefit from the injunction as well.
“It all depends on how he drafts the injunction,” Douglas said. “It’s entirely up to the judge.”
