Capital Video’s attorney, Michael Pill, likes to style himself as the defender of the underdog. Let’s ask, who is the underdog in this situation, and who has power?Capital Video describes itself as “the largest adult retail chain in the nation”. Owner Kenneth Guarino told Dun & Bradstreet that sales for 2005 amounted to $21,005,399. He […]
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Shame, Not Always a Bad Thing
Many porn shop defenders appear to believe that shame is always bad, and public shaming is always wrong. Capital Video attorney Michael Pill is quoted in today’s Republican as saying, “‘I hope we’ve gone beyond Puritan Massachusetts and the scarlet letter and public shaming.’”We say that shame is not always bad. Shame is a natural […]
Pornography Trains and Indoctrinates Prostitutes
80% of prostitution survivors at the WHISPER Oral History Project reported that their customers showed them pornography to illustrate the kinds of sexual activities in which they wanted to engage. 52% of the women stated that pornography played a significant role in teaching them what was expected of them as prostitutes. 30% reported that their […]
Attorney General Issues Certificate for Solicitation to NoPornNorthampton
The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Division of Public Charities has issued a Certificate for Solicitation to NoPornNorthampton. This means we are now permitted to raise funds from the public. As we’ve stated before, we have no intention or expectation of making a profit from our activism. We use donated funds to support our efforts in research, education and […]
Gazette: “Council passes porn store laws”
Today’s Daily Hampshire Gazette reports on the debate leading up to the Northampton City Council’s approval of adult-use regulations at yesterday’s public meeting. Each regulation was approved by a two-thirds majority of the council or greater. The meeting was “standing-room only.”Those quoted in favor of the regulations included…Council president Michael Bardsley: “This isn’t a ban; we’re […]
Breaking News: City Council Approves Adult Use Ordinances at First Reading
Northampton’s City Council approved all three adult-use ordinances under consideration at tonight’s public meeting. These ordinances regulate signage with adult content, require a 500-foot buffer zone between shops with porn viewing booths and homes/schools/houses of worship, and require a similar 500-foot buffer zone between large adult enterprises and homes/schools/houses of worship. A large adult enterprise […]
New York City Porn Shops Depress Demand for Neighboring Properties
From The New York Times, “Sex-Related Shops Make Comeback Near Times Sq.”, 3/15/05… Ten years after Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani declared war on Times Square’s X-rated peep shows, strip joints and video stores, shops selling sexually explicit materials have slowly begun to creep back into the area, adroitly exploiting loopholes in the law–and property-owners’ demand […]
California Supreme Court Ruling Helps Communities Preserve Quality of Life While Leaving Room for Free Expression
This California court ruling is a bit old (1989), but it strikes an appealing balance between community interests and free expression… The state Supreme Court on Thursday gave local governments more power to use “porn zoning” laws to restrict the location of theaters that show sexually explicit movies.In a widely watched test of municipal authority, […]
Even Hollywood Moved to Crack Down on Its Adult Businesses
Even Hollywood, hardly a center of conservative prudishness, years ago decided stricter adult-use zoning was in order… City and law enforcement officials long ago concluded that much of the prostitution, lewd behavior and other crime as well as the general seediness that plagues Hollywood emanates from the concentration of pornography shops in the area. Now, […]
Barney Frank: Zoning Balances First Amendment with Community Concerns
The Washington Post (1995) writes about Boston’s experience with zoning sex shops… …Barney Frank, now one of the most quotable leaders of the House Democratic minority…had been elected to the Massachusetts legislature in 1972, representing part of downtown Boston. A short time later, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that cities could not ban sex-related businesses, but […]