HOOVER, AL — Alabama’s anti-obscenity law has struck out, leaving a chain of adult stores feeling better about its future prospects.Love Stuff, which at several Alabama locations sells a mixture of mainstream and “adults-only” novelties, came out on top in a Jefferson County courtroom earlier this month when a judge ruled the state’s obscenity law was “too vague” to allow the City of Hoover to force the store there to close. That was welcome news for manager Ross Winner, who was on the verge of signing a new 10-year lease for the store.
City officials and the state’s attorney general, however, were not quite so elated. Instead of appealing the decision – which the city is reluctant to do and the state won’t attempt without the city’s involvement – Attorney General Troy King may ask the legislature to amend the statute, a King representative said.
“I think the vagueness of this law that is being alluded to would best be addressed where it was created, by the Alabama Legislature,” Chris Bence, a spokesman for the attorney general, told the Huntsville Times.
At issue in the case was a section of the Alabama statute that forbids “adults-only” stores from locating within 1,000 feet of homes, daycare centers, churches, and other places minors may frequent. Love Stuff segregates about 36-percent of its merchandise into an area from which adults may purchase only after signing a statement that affirms their intention to use the products for a “bona fide medical or other purpose” allowed under the law. Circuit Judge Robert Vance Jr. ruled Love Stuff “clearly sells a number of items that are for adults only, [but] this court lacks any standards to decide whether it is a ‘form of adult-only enterprise.’”
The Alabama legislature’s next regular session will begin in February. Between now and then, the attorney general’s staff will seek input from law-enforcement officials throughout the state before deciding whether to request changes in the obscenity statute, Bence said.
