WASHINGTON, DC — Due to observance of Yom Kippur, the new term of the U.S. Supreme Court will begin with a full roster of justices tomorrow — but it will not include a Texas case involving the arrest of a porn clerk and the state’s ban on items that resemble genitals and are used primarily “for the stimulation of human genital organs.”Although it will tackle important social cases, nearly 2000 appeals that have been waiting for the justices during their summer recess had their requests for hearings rejected. Among that number was the constitutional challenge to the Texas law.
The case in question focuses on Ignacio Sergio Acosta, an employee of an El Paso, TX adult bookstore who was arrested after showing two undercover cops a penis-shaped device and advising the female officer that it would be sexually effective. Acosta contends that the law banning the manufacture, marketing, and distribution of such allegedly “obscene devices” is unconstitutional since it makes the use of such items nearly impossible due to unavailability, something he believes is a violation of the citizenry’s right to sexual privacy. Additionally, Acosta contends that the previous U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down a Texas ban on homosexual sex on privacy grounds supports his contentions.
State suppression of sex toys has been addressed in Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Georgia, Mississippi, and Texas — with the first three states deeming that laws such as that involved in Ignacio Sergio Acosta v. state of Texas, 05-1574 are unconstitutional, and the latter three states concluding otherwise.
Acosta’s initial request that charges against him be dropped was granted by an El Paso County court, but they were reinstated by the court of appeals for the Eight District of Texas, which insisted that the law did not impede on the private sexual behavior of citizens.
Adults may currently purchase sex toys from Texas merchants legally if they are for medical or educational use. Acosta’s crime may well have been that he was honest about the intent of most toy purchasers.
A date to determine Acosta’s guilt or innocence will now be set for an El Pasco County court.
The U.S. Supreme Court will now hear cases concerning late-stage abortion, racial segregation, and the environment. Decisions will be the first on the bench for Justice Samuel Alito, Bush-appointed replacement for moderate Sandra Day O’Connor and the second for Chief Justice John Roberts, appointed by Bush to replace the late William Rehnquist.
The Supreme Court rejected a similar appeal to an Alabama law last year and issued no comment on the Texas case.
