Well, in Texas at least.
Joanne Webb, a former fifth-grade teacher and mother of three, was in a county court in Cleburne, Texas, on Monday to answer obscenity charges for selling the vibrator to undercover narcotics officers posing as a dysfunctional married couple in search of a sex aid.
Webb, a saleswoman for Passion Parties of Brisbane, faces a year in jail and a $4,000 fine if convicted.
Aside from what sounds like the remarkable (and oddly intriguing) innovation of home parties centered around, not food storage containers or cooking gear or cleannig materials, but “marital aids” …
For the past year, Webb has sold the company’s line of vibrators, gels, lubricants, strawberry-flavored nipple cream and “edible passion puddings.” The merchandise is offered for sale in private, Tupperware-style parties to women who may be reluctant to visit an adult novelty store.
… does anyone else think it must have been an extremely slow crime day (week, month) in Cleburne? I mean, so slow that they could allocate a couple of narcotics officers (guess there’s no narcotics to buy there, either) to case like this?
Webb suspects she got in trouble because she ruffled feathers in town by daring to join the Chamber of Commerce with her sex toy business.
Ah. There’s no politics like small-town politics.
Volokh notes two interesting bits of Texas state law on the matter:
Texas is one of only three states (Colorado and Kansas are the others) that actually has the word “dildo” occurring in its state statutes.
That would be Penal Code sec. 43.21, where we learn that “‘Obscene device’ means a device including a dildo or artificial vagina, designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs.” Per se.
(It’s worth noting that the Colorado version of this, which hits a bit closer to home, is in Title 18 (Criminal Code), Article 7 (Offenses Related to Morals), Part 1 (Obscenity Offenses), 18-7-101, Definitions, Section 3. It reads identically to the Texas definition.)
We also find out:
Texas also provides that “A person who possesses six or more obscene devices or identical or similar obscene articles is presumed to possess them with intent to promote the same.” (Penal Code sec. 43.23.) If you’ve got six or more, you’re not just a user — you’re a pusher!
As opposed to, say, someone who prefers a bit of variety, or has generous friends.
(Interestingly enough, Colorado, too, has the same six-items-or-more restriction, in 18-7-102.)
It’s worth noting that you can duck out from under these laws if you have “a bona fide medical, psychiatric, judicial, legislative, or law enforcement purpose.” Personal preference for what you do in your own bedroom, with nobody presumably being forced to view the proceedings (that’s already covered by other laws), or selling items to that end to folks who ask for them, evidently does not count, according to the state of Texas. (Or Colorado. I blame all the Texans who’ve moved here.)
“It’s worth noting that you can duck out from under these laws if you have “a bona fide medical, psychiatric, judicial, legislative, or law enforcement purpose.”
I have to ask: what’s a judicial, legislative, or law enforcement purpose? Using them in interrogation? 🙂 I remember when this first came up a couple of years ago, and shaking my head about it. These states need to get out of their fears of dildos!!
Judicial or law enforcement might involve having the Wicked Items as evidence, or as illustrations of what Wicked Items look like for DARE classes or something.
Legislative use would, no doubt, be for floor demonstration (no, not that kind of demonstration) of what Wicked Items are out there and how we need to expand such laws.
I guess.
Scott, what was the name of the film? 😉
In cases like these, I’d hate to be a juror because Penal Code would sound too close to Penile Code and I’d probably be cited for contempt after all the snickering.
And just to make this comment totally and completely wrong, the last thing I need to see is Ken Ashcroft waving one of these around in his hand, decrying the evil of their temptation.
Thank you. That is just the image I need to carry with me the rest of the day …
I mailed a box to my folks today with the Farside collection in it. Twenty-two pounds. The woman at the counter said, “I’ve heard of coffee-table books, but I’ve never heard of fireside books until today. Shore is heavy enough.”
When I tried to explain to her (using the hand guestures of “so big” and saying the word “cartoon” a couple of times), she apologized.
“I thought you were making a joke,” I said.
“I’m from Texas,” she said. “Ain’t that a joke enough already?”
Well, alas, from what I can tell, the same laws are on the books here in Colorado, too, so I can’t particularly crow about Texan goofiness.
Law enforcement use is to entrap people. Otherwise, the cop selling a vibrator would have to be arrested, too.
I haved heard that selling vibrators is also illegal in the state of Ohio. Anyone know anything about this?
It’s mentioned (Google tells me) in the Vagina Monologues, but I haven’t found any other reference to it.