Alabama Ban On Sex Toys
Struck Down As Unconstitutional

An Alabama law banning the sale of sex toys was struck down by a federal judge as a violation of the right to privacy.

The statute deemed selling or distributing "any obscene material or any device designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs" to be a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and a $10,000 fine.

He said the state did not prove it has a legitimate interest in banning the sale of sex devices for use in private, consensual relationships between adults.

The 1998 law - part of a package of legislation strengthening the state's obscenity law - banned the sale of devices designed for "the stimulation of human genital organs." It was challenged by six women who either sell sex aids or said they need them for sexual gratification.

US District Judge Lynwood Smith Jr said: "The fundamental right of privacy, long recognized by the Supreme Court as inherent among our constitutional protections, incorporates a right to sexual privacy."

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