JT
06-17-05, 09:57 AM
DENVER - The Free Speech Coalition on Thursday filed a complaint and motion seeking temporary injunctive relief against enforcement of the recently revised federal regulations pertaining to 18 U.S.C. §2257. “Twenty-two fifty-seven,” as it is known colloquially, is the federal records-keeping and labeling act outlining penalties for failure to document the ages of models and actors who appear in sexually explicit imagery. The revised regulations, which specify how 2257 documentation must be kept, who must keep it, and how it may be inspected, were published in the Federal Register May 24 and will take effect June 23.
Since their publication, the regulations have been criticized by adult industry attorneys as vague, onerous, potentially self-incriminatory, and possibly broadly unconstitutional.
The suit, Free Speech Coalition v. Alberto Gonzales, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado late Thursday afternoon on behalf of the membership of the FSC. It outlines more than 20 separate claims on the basis of which the FSC is asking the court to issue a temporary restraining order.
Three legal firms represent the FSC in the filing: Colorado-based Schwartz & Goldberg PC, Ohio-based Sirkin, Pinales & Schwartz LLP, and New York-based Lipsitz, Green, Fahringer, Roll, Salisbury & Cambria. None of the attorneys involved in the filing were available for comment at press time, and other attorneys close to the case declined to comment, as well.
However, according to FSC spokesman Tom Hymes, the FSC’s attorneys expect the court will order a hearing on the motion before June 23. Attorneys H. Louis Sirkin, Paul J. Cambria Jr., and Michael W. Gross are prepared to present the FSC’s arguments to the court.
Since their publication, the regulations have been criticized by adult industry attorneys as vague, onerous, potentially self-incriminatory, and possibly broadly unconstitutional.
The suit, Free Speech Coalition v. Alberto Gonzales, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado late Thursday afternoon on behalf of the membership of the FSC. It outlines more than 20 separate claims on the basis of which the FSC is asking the court to issue a temporary restraining order.
Three legal firms represent the FSC in the filing: Colorado-based Schwartz & Goldberg PC, Ohio-based Sirkin, Pinales & Schwartz LLP, and New York-based Lipsitz, Green, Fahringer, Roll, Salisbury & Cambria. None of the attorneys involved in the filing were available for comment at press time, and other attorneys close to the case declined to comment, as well.
However, according to FSC spokesman Tom Hymes, the FSC’s attorneys expect the court will order a hearing on the motion before June 23. Attorneys H. Louis Sirkin, Paul J. Cambria Jr., and Michael W. Gross are prepared to present the FSC’s arguments to the court.