Reason.tv has just released a 6:15-minute news short produced by staffers Dan Hayes and Nick Gillespie titled "Should Obscenity Be Illegal?".
Stagliano, who faces a possible term that could mean imprisonment for the rest of his life if convicted, makes a compelling case with his statements on whether obscenity prosecutions make sense because the productions are created and consumed by consenting adults in private.
"I make my porno movies for the people who love porno," Stagliano said in the news video. "They are my fans that's who I make it for."
Stagliano faces up to 32 years in federal prison for distributing "Milk Nymphos" and "Storm Squirters 2: Target Practice" and a promotional video for similar material on his website.
He contends in Reason.tv's piece that if the government can try his case, prosecutors could extend it to even lighter fare, despite not clearly spelling out what obscenity really is.
"I didn't know I was breaking the law," he said. The prosecution of adult material is "another area where the government thinks it should be able to run our lives. They could easily extend that from looking at porn to consuming fast food" and other activities.
Reason.tv, in the video, attempts to compare age-old works of art that also were deemed obscene — "Lady Chatterley's Lover," "Ulysses" and "I Am Curious Yellow"— to show that such prosecutions are subjective and selective.
Separately, federal prosecutors this week filed an opposition to Stagliano's motion to preclude evidence in his 2008 copyright case against Kaytel. Prosecutors says they want three documents introduced to the jury that will decide Stagliano's case.
The government wants to introduce Stagliano's testimony, deposition and the first amended complaint in the Kaytel case. But Stagliano attorney Allan Gelbard said they plan to squash the request.
"We don't want prosecutors to use the earlier copyright case in these court proceedings," Gelbard told XBIZ. "It's not what we want the jury to hear. We don't want to bring it up at all."
