PHILADELPHIA — Trial to determine the legality of 18 U.S.C. § 2257, the federal record-keeping law for adult entertainment producers, reconvenes on Tuesday at 9:15 a.m. (EDT).
Judge Michael M. Baylson's courtroom at the James A. Byrne Federal Courthouse in Philadelphia was dark today and testimony for the defense, the U.S. government, continues Tuesday in what will be the trial's fifth day.
On Friday, antiporn feminist Gail Dines became the Justice Department’s first star witness in the trial. Friday’s other witness was veteran photographer Barbara Nitke.
Last week, scores of witnesses testified in Philadelphia on behalf of the plaintiffs in this case, including First Amendment attorney Jeffrey J. Douglas (who serves as chairman of the FSC’s board of directors), Dian Wilson (office manager for the North Carolina-based Sinclair Institute, which specializes in educational erotica), Dr. Betty Dodson (a sex educator and leader of the sex-positive feminist movement), Dodson’s business partner Carlin Ross, erotic photographer David Steinberg, San Francisco-based sexologist Carol Queen, journalist/website operator Tom Hymes, photojournalist Barbara Alper, veteran adult film star Nina Hartley and Ohio-based David Levingston (a former photojournalist who now focuses on erotic photography).
How soon the trial will conclude and Baylor will reach some type of decision remains to be seen.
