Porn stars Kayden Kross and Logan Pierce along with Vivid Entertainment sue to block ‘Measure B’ condom requirement

Public domain photo/Trojanhung via Wikimedia Commons

In a follow-up to a story published after election day, attorneys for Universal City-based Vivid Entertainment LLC and adult entertainers, Kayden Kross and Logan Pierce,  filed a lawsuit Friday against Los Angeles County in federal court challenging the recently passed Measure B, which that mandates actors wear condoms when participating in sex scenes, according to an XBIZ news report Jan. 11.

The lawsuit says that Measure B violates the First Amendment’s protection of free expression  and imposes an unconstitutional system of prior restraint. Measure B was approved by 57% of L.A. County voters during the Nov. 6 election.

Attorneys for the adult entertainment industry say that Measure B is unnecessary because of rigorous and effective self-regulation by the adult industry. In addition, they say that the lawsuit also challenges the county’s jurisdiction to regulate adult production on performer health and safety.

According to an LA Times report, Steven Hirsch, Vivid’s founder and co-chief executive officer, said in an interview: “We will fight for our right to express ourselves as we please.”

Hirsch goes on to say, “Overturning this law is something I feel very passionate about. I believe the industry’s current testing system works well.” He turns to the following statistics– “Since 2004 over 300,000 explicit scenes have been filmed with zero HIV transmission.”

Paul Cambria, an attorney with Lipsitz Green Scime Cambria, which is representing Vivid said, “It (Measure B) tells a person who is a filmmaker … that you can’t create (one) unless you pay a fee and obtain a permit and do it the way we say, which is all your people must wear condoms”, according to a Daily News report.

However, the organization that spearheaded Measure B on the ballot, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation will have none of it.

In a statement to the LA Weekly, attorneys for the foundation said, “Despite what the adult industry’s lawyers are claiming in this lawsuit, Measure B is not directed at speech, and as such, their First Amendment claims will likely ring hollow with the court. Measure B is about safety in a commercial endeavor. Nothing in Measure B restricts the content of what can be shown … The same reason one requires condoms is the same reason a stunt man or woman would have to use a net, or be tied to a harness.”

The fact that a lawsuit has been filed should come as no surprise. The day after the election, a spokesperson for the porn industry said, “While the misinformation and outright distortions made by AHF during this campaign may have deceived voters, we believe in the calm, serious deliberations of the legal system we will find that Measure B is in fact unconstitutional.”

Measure B, or the Los Angeles Safer Sex in the Adult Film Industry Act, was passed by LA County voters-57% to 43% last November 6.

See my interviews with both sides of the argument before the election–

‘No on Measure B’ spokesman, James Lee, answers questions about the initiative

Measure B proponent, Mark McGrath, talks workplace safety, public health

Also—

The Porn Industry fights back: a few words with Michael Whiteacre

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