North Manchester Church Asks for Porn Ban
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Jordan Fouts-
But it’s a tricky proposition, town attorney Matt Mize told council Wednesday after digging through case law for the past month.
Pastor J.P. Freeman of the Tall Pines Parsonage, 502 E. Second St., presented a letter and petition July 11 asking the North Manchester Town Council to write an ordinance banning pornography in town. He requested in the letter a prohibition on “the sale, rental or other distribution of pornographic, x-rated video discs, VHS tapes or other means of transmission within the jurisdiction of the town.”
The congregation’s concern rests on one business selling the material, which Freeman said rebuffed their efforts to persuade them to discontinue the practice. The church’s next step, in addition to requesting a town prohibition, will be to appeal to local and corporate managers, he said.
Communities who have tried to ban porn often run afoul of the Constitution, Mize noted Wednesday, most famously Indianapolis in 1985. The United States 7th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the state capitol’s law prohibiting porn by defining it as discriminatory against women.
Judge Frank Easterbrook had ruled that the government has no power to restrict expression because of its message or ideas.
Mize said that for North Manchester to even have a leg to stand on, it would have to prove that a majority of the community is against pornography.
But such a majority is hard to measure, he noted, since even passage of a ballot initiative wouldn’t necessarily prove the feelings of a majority of residents.
Council members indicated for Mize to continue perusing the issue, though Council President Chris Garber remarked that concerned residents might find it more effective to not patronize the business.
“The real way to vote is not to go there,” Garber said.[[In-content Ad]]
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But it’s a tricky proposition, town attorney Matt Mize told council Wednesday after digging through case law for the past month.
Pastor J.P. Freeman of the Tall Pines Parsonage, 502 E. Second St., presented a letter and petition July 11 asking the North Manchester Town Council to write an ordinance banning pornography in town. He requested in the letter a prohibition on “the sale, rental or other distribution of pornographic, x-rated video discs, VHS tapes or other means of transmission within the jurisdiction of the town.”
The congregation’s concern rests on one business selling the material, which Freeman said rebuffed their efforts to persuade them to discontinue the practice. The church’s next step, in addition to requesting a town prohibition, will be to appeal to local and corporate managers, he said.
Communities who have tried to ban porn often run afoul of the Constitution, Mize noted Wednesday, most famously Indianapolis in 1985. The United States 7th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the state capitol’s law prohibiting porn by defining it as discriminatory against women.
Judge Frank Easterbrook had ruled that the government has no power to restrict expression because of its message or ideas.
Mize said that for North Manchester to even have a leg to stand on, it would have to prove that a majority of the community is against pornography.
But such a majority is hard to measure, he noted, since even passage of a ballot initiative wouldn’t necessarily prove the feelings of a majority of residents.
Council members indicated for Mize to continue perusing the issue, though Council President Chris Garber remarked that concerned residents might find it more effective to not patronize the business.
“The real way to vote is not to go there,” Garber said.[[In-content Ad]]
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