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The Daily Tar Heel Wednesday, October 16, 19853
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By ANDY TRINCIA
State and National Editor
North Carolina's new pornography law is not out to
stop people from reading Playboy or seeing movies sueh
as Ranibo. but it is designed to stop hard-core
pornography and sex crimes involving females and minors,
the law s principal sponsor said Tuesday.
"We're not going after Ramho. Playboy and Pent
house" said Rep. Richard Wright. D-Columbus, in a
telephone interview from his Tabor City law office. The
law is desiged to stop the hard-core stuff that most of
us have never seen.The law, however, does not authorize
the Gestapo to go into people's homes and seize
pornographic materials."
Wright, who sponsored the law that went into effect
Oct. I, said he introduced it as a bill in late May. Although
it passed the N.C. House supported by 80 co-sponsors
out of 120 General Assembly members, Wright said the
bill struggled through the Senate.
"It was held up in the Senate for about four weeks,
but we managed to get it out without major surgery,"
Wright said.
"1 sponsored it basically because for eight years I saw
how incompetent it was," he said. "Before 1977 it was
very much like the rest of the states. The old law was
so open-ended that there were no convictions of purveyors
of the hardest core pornography you could imagine."
The new law, however, has aligned North Carolina with
pornography laws in other states. Wright said The new
Theaieirs change admission practices
By KENNETH HARRIS
Staff Writer
As a result of North Carolina's new
pornography law, theater managers are
requiring that parents accompany
children under the age of 18 to R-rated
movies, and in some instances, man
agers are firing their employees who are
underage.
Under the old law, it was a misde
meanor to show obscene materials to
minors. Before court action could be
: taken, a hearing was held to determine
if the material was obscene. The new
law has strengthened the state's powers.
At present, there is a prison sentence
of at least two years if a person is
convicted of showing obscene material
to minors. In a misdemeanor offense,
the state could not prosecute distrib
utors of pornographic material who
lived outside the state. District attorneys
now have the powef to prosecute dealers
of pornographic material in other states.
For area theaters, the new law
requires owners to turn away children
under 18 or to have parents give their
consent.
The Ram Theater's recorded movie
listing states: "For all R-rated movies,
no one under 18 admitted without
parental consent or parental accompan
iment. ID is required."
"ItS" an 'abridgement of - the First
Amendment," said Jim Steele; manager
and part owner of the Varsity Theater.
John Jordan, manager of the Carol
ina Theater, said for theater managers
"it's the same old law," only authorities
are trying to enforce it better. "It's
protecting everyone that way," he said.
Jordan said he is requiring parents
to sign consent forms for children under
18. If the parents want to leave their
children at the theater, Jordan has to
meet with the parents and have them
sign the forms before the children can
enter the theater.
"We check ID for all R-rated movies
basically," he said. "We have to."
In some instances, parents would
leave their underage children outside the
theater and the children could not enter,
Jordan said. But, he added, it occurs
more in Durham and Raleigh theaters
because Chapel Hill contains mostly
college students.
The Varsity Theater, an independant
theater, does not receive many of
Hollywood's latest releases, but it shows
classic and foreign films.
"Our pictures are not very attractive
to the junior high and earlier audien
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law is similar to California's law, he said, but was also
based on cases in Kansas, Ohio and the District of
Columbia.
Wright said, T think well see a decline in business
in hard-core pornography stores and a decline in the
percentage of violent sex crimes involving females and
minors."
He added that most sex crimes involved people who
found stimulation from pornographic materials. "Some
70 percent of the people convicted of these crimes have
material on their person or in their dwelling," he said.
"I won't even begin to describe to you the degree of hard
core materials that were available before the new law."
John D. Simmons, deputy state attorney general, said
the new law, which was more enforceable, would have
an impact on businesses selling pornographic materials
in the near future and would institute long-term effects.
"In the near future, lots of (pornographic) materials
will come off the shelves, which are not within the
definitiorof obscenity because of the fear of prosecution,"
he said. "It may put an end to hard-core pornography
businesses. It says the state won't endorse pornography.
Well always have pornography, but now it won't be as
easy to acquire."
L. P. Watts, professor at UNC's Institute of Govern
ment, said the old law made violations a misdemeanor
while the new law makes violations a Class J felony with
a maximum penalty of a three-year prison sentence.
ces," Steele said. He still objects to the
law.
" "It would seem to me in a case of
child pornography that.the production
might be a punishable offense," he said,
adding that he disagrees with the
regulation of a movie "once it has been
produced at the exhibition level."
"1 would rather see people exercise
better taste in choosing what they go
see than to have the government tell
you what to do," Steele said.
According to Jordan, the new law has
not had any effect on ticket sales. He
said he will not have to adjust the times
of the movies to account for possible
delays by parents signing consent forms.
Because his theater shows foreign
films, which often are not rated, Steele
said he has to be more selective with
the movies he will present.
"A couple of movies I've considered
showing but have held off," he said.
"We're not showing any films that might
be considered questionable."
The new law makes exceptions for
movies that have artistic or literary
value or express a political idea. Each
community sets its own standards for
obscenity. Some managers said they
would be more selective about their
movies although they expected few
problems in Chapel Hill.
"It will have ar definite effect on the ;
movies we chose to show in the future,"
Jordan said. He added that the theater
will begin to show more foreign and
independent films that have won awards
based on their artistic value. He said
he expects the films to do well in the
area.
"We don't feel it represents us in that
respect," said Cecil Allen, director of
advertising for Eastern Federal Corpo
ration. Eastern Federal Corporation
operates the Plaza Theater.
"We don't feel that we're going to
be impacted," Allen said. This law is
going to have an impact on adult
theaters. In Chapel Hill, we just don't
program any X or triple X (movies).
The impact on us is so lile at this
point."
Steele said he is extremely cautious
because by being a small independent
theater, he cannot afford a law suit. He
said he will not show questionable films
until a test case concerning the porno
graphy law comes to court.
As a result of the law, some theater
managers have had to fire their
employees who are under the age of 18.
Others require employees to obtain
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parental consent to work.
Jordan said he has received parental
consent for his employees under 18.
"Their parents have given written
consent so that their child may work
here as long as the child doesn't view
the film while working," he said. If he
intended to hire anyone under 18 in the
future, Jordan said he would have to
obtain written consent from the pros
pective employee's parents before he
could hire the minor.
"We request that they do not go into
the auditorium when one of these films
is showing," Steele said.
Rob Fleeger, manager of the Ram
Theater, said he had to fire his
employees who were under 18. He
added, however, that ticket sales have
not been affected by the law.
Marion Jones, general counsel for
Carmike Cinemas, the company who
operates the Ram Theater, said that IDs
will be checked closely and that no one
under 1 8 will be employed until the state
has had time to react to the new law.
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By LAURIE WILLIS
Staff Writer
X-rated videos have been removed
from the shelves of video stores state
wide as a result of the N.C. pornography
law which went into effect on Oct. 1.
Video stores have experienced sales
decreases, some more than others, said
David F. Kirby, a partner in the Kirby,
Wallace, Creech, Sarda, and Zaytoun
law firm that is representing N.C. video
stores in a lawsuit protesting the new
law. " " t
"Of the 100 clients we're representing
statewide, some, have reported their
sales rentals off by as much as 60
percent, but the average drop is 30
percent," Kirby said.
The video stores have removed their
X-rated tapes and some have removed
their R-rated tapes for fear of prose-
House
such as parking and square footage
requirements; maintain or enhance
adjoining properties or be deemed a
necessity; , and fit in with the general
purposes of the town's growth.
Bocchini said he didn't expect any
problems with obtaining the permit.
"We can show city council that we
can make the house an attractive place
for people to live in," he said. "We are
surrounded by fraternities and we are
not interrupting any part of the
neighborhood."
Bocchini said rent for the new house
members would be low because Phi
Kappa Sigma did not have to borrow
much money for the purchase of the
house.
"We have a considerable sum of
capital from our housing corporation
that doesn't need paying back," he said.
Although the house will be a con-
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cution, Kirby said.
The law has two statutes, the adult
obscenity statute and the minor obscen
ity statute, Kirby said. The lawsuit his
firm filed contends that the statutes are
overbroad in their reach.
"The statutes prohibit or outlaw what
is constitutionally protected expres
sion," he said.
Materials of sexual encounters not
considered obscene by adults or minors
are obscene according to the law, Kirby
said.
"That's our main argument ... (the
law) brings into prohibition what are
obviously not obscene acts."
Ashley Stanford, an employee of
Show & Tell Video Tapes in Chapel
Hill, said he considered the law uncon
stitutional and did not think it would
hold up in court.
from page 1
venience, it was not the key to the
fraternity's survival, he said.
"We have always emphasized to
people that are rushing that a house
does not make a fraternity," he said.
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"I think it's an invasion of freedom
of privacy," he said.
Stanford also said he did not think
the law was very well written.
It's vague and it has affected some
businesses I tfont think the legislators
intended to affect, such as family video
stores and theaters," Stanford said.
Family video stores are being hurt
by the law, he said.
"Our sales have dropped 20 percent,
but luckily X-rated videos weren't our
biggest sellers," Stanford said.
R-rated videos sold best at Show &
Tell Video Tapes, he said.
Stanford said he had received numer
ous complaints from customers about
the law. '
"Their (the customers) main argu
ment is that they don't like the govern
ment legislating what they can and can't
see," he said.
Show & Tell Video Tapes was not
involved in the lawsuit and did not plan
to get involved, Stanford said.
Jean Watson, manager of North
American Video in Carrboro, said her
store had experienced a 10 to 15 percent
cut in sales. But it was not a significant
drop, she said.
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