Ban on Sex Magazine Rack Sales Is Upheld

Boosting the state’s effort to keep adult magazines out of children’s hands, a federal judge in Los Angeles on Wednesday upheld a law banning the sale of sex-oriented publications through coin-operated news racks on public streets.

U.S. District Judge Manuel Real declared the law constitutional, but barred it from taking effect for 30 days while opponents prepare an appeal. The law has already been held up in court for nearly a year, and critics vowed to block it from ever taking effect.

“This law prevents adults from reading what they want to read,” complained Los Angeles attorney David Grosz, who represents the publishers of Swinger, Kinky and Spectator magazines, as well as others opposed to the law. “News racks are a ubiquitous medium today . . . there’s no evidence there’s been any harm to children because of it.”

The law mandates that all vending machines peddling sex-related publications must be supervised by an adult, located in a shop that does not admit minors or rigged so they accept only tokens, rather than quarters and dimes.

Opponents have criticized the law as violating their right to free speech. But California Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren hailed the judge’s ruling as proof that the state can control the adult publication industry without abridging free speech rights--by regulating the placement of news racks, rather than the content of magazines.

“This law is a model for other states to follow,” Lungren said.

Lungren was so enthusiastic about the law when it was passed last year that he drew a contempt-of-court order by enforcing it before Judge Real declared it constitutional, while it was still tied up in federal court. Only under threat of jail time did Lungren back off and tell law enforcement authorities across the state to stop seizing adult-oriented vending machines.

Because of the 30-day injunction, Lungren still cannot issue orders to uphold the law. Enforcement could be delayed for months if opponents--including publishers, distributors and vendors of adult magazines--win another injunction while they appeal Wednesday’s ruling.

“We certainly hope that doesn’t happen,” said Lungren’s spokesman, Steve Telliano. News racks selling adult fare are “very pervasive,” Telliano said. “If you’ve been around in Hollywood, you see how many there are. And most people would say that children 10, 12 or 14 years old should not have access to pornography.”