Ventura County passes law requiring condoms in porn shoots
Unincorporated areas of Ventura County are joining other communities that require actors in porn films to wear condoms.
The County Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance Tuesday that takes effect immediately, according to the Ventura County Star, which reported that no one spoke out against or in favor of the law. The supervisors spoke only briefly about it, the newspaper reported.
The ordinance would be enforced by the county’s public health department, which would send inspectors to film locations.
Ventura County’s unincorporated communities will join Simi Valley and Los Angeles County, which have similar laws. The state Legislature is considering a bill to require porn movie actors to wear condoms.
The L.A. County condom law is raising 1st Amendment issues in a federal lawsuit.
“The big issue is free speech,” said Leroy Smith, chief legal counsel for the Ventura County Board of Supervisors.
If the L.A. County law is upheld by in federal court, it would strengthen the constitutional case for the Ventura County ordinance, Smith told the Star.
Even if it is struck down, he said, it would probably reduce the need for an ordinance in Ventura County because pornographic film productions would probably just return to L.A. instead of seeking locales to shoot in neighboring counties.
The Ventura County supervisors’ actions followed complaints about noise from porn film shoots in Newbury Park.
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