Pornography and Civil Rights: A New Day for Women's Equality

pornography distributed, against seller(s) for pornography sold, or against exhibitor(s) for pornography exhibited, prior to the effective date of this law.

The purpose of money damages in lawsuits is to compensate

the victim for the injury. While it is impossible truly to compensate anyone for the harm of pornography, it is also impossible truly to compensate for the injury of libel, wrongful death, dismemberment, medical malpractice, and most other personal injuries that are compensated al the time. The particular point of damages under this civil-rights law is twofold: to recognize

that something that belonged to the victim was wrongly taken

from her, and to provide restitution in the same terms that provided the pornographers with an incentive to take it in the first place. Pornographers are in the pornography business to make

money. As a mat er of policy, any scheme to stop them must recognize that a major motivation to abuse is financial.

Injunctions

Any person who violates this law may be enjoined, except that (a) no temporary or permanent injunction shall issue prior to a final judicial determination that

the challenged activities constitute a violation of this

law, and (b) no temporary or permanent injunction

shall extend beyond such materials that, having been

described with reasonable specificity by the injunction,

have been determined to be validly proscribed under

this law.

The civil-rights injunction is a recognized tool for relieving

The Ordinance

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civil-rights abuses in schools, housing, employment, prisons,

mental-health facilities, and coundess other settings. Yet, applied to pornography, this provision is often mischaracterized as a “ban. ” It works the same way al civil-rights injunctions

work: once a practice is shown to injure its victims, a court can

issue an order to stop it. In a case of coercion, the court could

stop the coerced materials from being sold. In a case of force,

the court could stop the forcing of pornography from continuing. In a case of assault, the court could stop the material proven to have caused the assault from being distributed or sold further. In a case of trafficking, the court could stop materials

proven to subordinate on the basis of sex from being made, circulated, sold, or shown. None of these steps could be taken until al the appeals in the case were through, and it could be taken

only against materials that have been specifical y described.

Technicalities

Severability

Should any part(s) of this law be found legally invalid,

the remaining part(s) remain valid, if consistent with

the overall intent of this law.

Most laws have a provision that invites courts to uphold

some parts of the law even if it finds other parts of it invalid.

The Indianapolis Ordinance was particularly careful to permit a reviewing court to uphold the law against actual presentations of a woman being subordinated, even if other parts of the law were invalidated.

Limitation of Action

Complaints under this law must be filed within six

years of the discriminatory acts alleged.

Abuse through pornography often occurs over a long period of time, ending only when the victim can find the resources or means or self-respect to escape. The impact of the abusive process, coupled with the fact that the society protects

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Pornography and Civil Rights