LOS ANGELES — U.S. District Judge Dean Pregerson yesterday vacated Vivid Entertainment's motion for judgment to invalidate Measure B, Los Angeles County's voter-approved law that mandates condoms on porn shoots.
Pregerson, in a pretrial order, said he made the decision after considering a stipulation submitted by intervenors in the suit — members of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation who have wedged themselves as defendants in the suit.
Pregerson recently allowed the AHF to intervene in the suit because of their stake in the county law. The AHF sponsored Measure B as well as the similar Los Angeles City ordinance and the pending AB 332, a bill wrangling through the state Assembly that would make condoms mandatory statewide during performances.
The federal jurist noted, however, that Vivid attorneys' motion for judgment to invalidate Measure B can be "completely re-filed if needed."
Pregererson also ordered that the scheduled May 6 hearing on Vivid's motion for preliminary injunction be continued to June 24 and that the AHF intervenors file a response to the studio's request by May 13.
AHF intervenors, Pregerson said, have until May 10 to file a motion to dismiss Vivid's suit entirely.
Vivid attorneys in previous court filings said they were seeking a judgment on pleadings to invalidate the county ordinance because, among other things, Measure B imposes an "intolerable burden" on the exercise of rights under the 1st Amendment.
"The enforcement of Measure B ... presents serious due process problems," Vivid attorneys said in the earlier motion for judgment. "Its permit suspension/revocation regime operates without prior hearing and lacks procedural safeguards.
"It also allows searches of any location 'suspected' of being subject to Measure B, and seizures of all manner of personal property, including 'samples.' without any warrant or probable cause requirement.
"Thus, if enforced, Measure B would violate plaintiffs' liberty and property interest in the expressive works they create through the exercise of First Amendment rights, in documents and other personal property used to create those works, and in the ongoing freedom to create such works."
In Vivid's earlier motion for preliminary injunction, its counsel said that the defendants, the county and the Public Health director, have repeatedly rejected requests to not enforce Measure B during the pendency of the case.
Vivid and two adult performers, Kayden Kross and Logan Pierce, filed their suit in January at U.S. District Court in Los Angeles to seek injunctive relief over enforcement of Measure B, Los Angeles County's Safer Sex in the Adult Film Industry Act.
