Today’s Gazette publishes a letter from Jessica Grant of Northampton: Driving my children down Summer Street to Market Street as I do several times a week I was disturbed to see a brightly colored sign adorned with stars on the soon-to-be-open porn store on King Street…At what age would a child be able to type […]
Legal Ethics
Media Influence: The Case of ADHD Drugs
An argument frequently employed by our detractors is that people are not affected by the media they consume (example: Bastante Already). A good example of just how influential media can be is provided by the American experience with ADHD drugs. Usage in this decade has soared along with advertising. And once again we see lawyers […]
Lesser Newman: Capital Video Has Seen the Light and Will Make its Springfield Viewing Booths Safe
It has become a cliche in American culture, yet its truth still makes us laugh. Lucy offers Charlie Brown a football to kick. Charlie Brown knows that during virtually all previous attempts, Lucy has pulled the ball away at the last minute, causing him to go flying and land flat on his back. Nevertheless, Lucy knows […]
Viewing Booths and HIV: An Open Letter to Thomas Lesser of Northampton, Attorney for Capital Video
On June 20, we delivered a version of the following letter to Thomas Lesser and his associates at Lesser, Newman, Souweine & Nasser, a law firm in Northampton. Mr. Lesser represents Capital Video, which is trying to hang on to its viewing booth entertainment license in Springfield. We have not yet received any response, so […]
Certified Sex Therapist Marty Klein Wants You to Believe Porn Is Harmless
Many adult industry lawyers like Marc Randazza are not content to defend their clients on narrow constitutional grounds. They could say, for example, that yes this material is reprehensible but we must protect it so that more worthy speech will not be threatened. Instead, they apparently want you to believe that porn and the lifestyles […]
Penn State Law Professors Trot Out ‘Female Porn Leaders’ to Whitewash Realities of Adult Industry (explicit language)
NPN’s Jendi Reiter critiques Clay Calvert and Robert D. Richards, “Porn in Their Words: Female Leaders in the Adult Entertainment Industry Address Free Speech, Censorship, Feminism, Culture and the Mainstreaming of Adult Content” (PDF), published last year in the Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law [9 Vand. J. Ent. & Tech. L. 255 (2006)].This article […]
Capital Video Attorney Michael Pill: Fickle Defender of Free Speech
Capital Video Attorney Michael Pill has tried to portray himself as a First Amendment hero, suggesting that legal restrictions on porn shops are impermissible infringements on freedom of speech. However, not so long ago he was on the other side of the argument, trying to use the law to impede people from practicing their religions, […]
Capital Video Plays Hardball, Proposes Bondage Display for Store, Attorney Disses Community Opposition Ahead of December 14 Public Hearing
A month ago, Capital Video was talking up its “excellent relationship with its host communities”. General counsel Lesley Rich suggested that their store would be “designed in a ‘mainstream’ manner… Capital intends on opening an ‘upscale’ store in Northampton, and would be very receptive to discussions with the community on the look, feel and the […]
Capital Video Disregards Community Concerns
In today’s Gazette (“What may follow new ordinances”), Capital Video general counsel Lesley Rich claims the company enjoys “an excellent relationship with its host communities”.If that’s the case, I wonder why Springfield residents and officials pushed back against the expansion of the Capital Video store at 486 Bridge Street. The store was established in 1990. Capital […]
A Response to John P. DiBartolo
Northampton’s citizens and legal community have every right to question the judgment of attorney Michael Pill in agreeing to represent the Capital Video porn store. John P. DiBartolo’s letter (Gazette, 10/26/06), responding to Andrew Sirulnik’s 10/24 guest column, argues that lawyers’ willingness to take on unpopular clients is what makes our system of justice work. […]