YNOT – In a letter responding to the U.S. Department of Justice’s call for public comment about 18USC §2257 and 2257a, adult industry trade group Free Speech Coalition reiterated its objections to the federal recordkeeping and labeling regulations. The letter — signed by FSC Executive Director Diane Duke and addressed to Andrew G. Oosterbaan, chief of the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section — called the regulations “intrinsically unreasonable” because they require publishers to prove their expression is constitutionally protected even before the expression is challenged.

That all speech is protected until proven otherwise “is the Constitution’s presumption,” Duke wrote.

The letter details objections to the burdens placed on primary and secondary producers by 2257 and 2257a regulations, which mandate how adult entertainment producers collect, maintain and share age verification documentation. It was sent about one week after FSC’s Third Circuit Court of Appeals victory, in which the court reversed a lower court’s dismissal of FSC’s ongoing legal challenge to 2257’s constitutionality. The lawsuit now will move ahead in district court.

“Of course we hope that our comments [in the letter to Oosterbaan] and the comments of others will be taken in to consideration, but history suggests otherwise,” Duke said Thursday. “That is why FSC was compelled to file suit against the federal government on the issue of 2257 and 2257a. Hopefully our recent win will bring us closer to resolution. Special thanks to Reed Lee, Lorraine Baumgardner, Michael Murray and Jeffrey Douglas for their excellent work in drafting our statement [to Oosterbaan].”

FSC has opposed 2257 regulations since 2005, when the first regulations were enacted, and continues to voice opposition on behalf of adult industry producers. Attorneys J. Michael Murray and Lorraine Baumgardner represent FSC and other plaintiffs in the current lawsuit. If successful, the suit would strike down the current regulations, which place considerable burdens on producers to be in compliance, and which also present a danger to the privacy rights of adult performers, Duke said.

The entire text of Duke’s letter to Oosterbaan is here (Microsoft Word .doc format).