Good Stuff - I Guess The Legal System Does Work After All

Chris Wilson is being sent to jail for violating the conditions of his bail by continuing to operate his pornography Web site.

Judge J. Dale Durrance today agreed with a prosecution request to revoke Wilson's bail because pornographic images continued to appear on his site after his arrest.

Wilson took all potentially obscene content off the Web site earlier this month, after the motion to revoke his bail was filed.

"It is with some regret that we must inform our users that this website has been forced to remove all sexually explicit content at this time," according to a posting on the site. "The owner of the site is being threatened with jail by Polk County, Florida, authorities if any obscene images appear on the site. Since nobody can tell, in advance, whether an image might be found obscene by some judge or jury, we have chosen to remove all explicit content at this time."

Wilson's attorneys had asked for more time to present their arguments, including whether the state's attempt to force Wilson to cease publication of his Web site, under threat of having his bail revoked, is a prior restraint of free speech, and whether the State Attorney can regulate conduct occurring outside the boundaries of the local circuit (since Wilson has moved to Orange County).

http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.d...AKING/51216005

I have no sympathy for the guy.

He was granted bail.

He willingly broke the conditions of his bail.

He's back behind bars.

The legal system does work after all :thumbsup:

Regards,

Lee

i didn't see the terms of his probation on that article, so from that article alone, i have no idea if he broke the terms of his probation or is being railroaded.

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Originally Posted by basschick

i didn't see the terms of his probation on that article, so from that article alone, i have no idea if he broke the terms of his probation or is being railroaded.

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One of the terms, according to some of the FSC people he has had posting on numerous boards was that he couldnt operate his adult site.

The site is still online.

Seems pretty clear cut to me :)

Regards,

Lee

I, however, do have sympathy for the guy.

It's clear to anyone observant enough to see that the Polk County sheriff's office and prosecutor's office went after this guy through political, witch hunt motivations.

The man ran a website on which soldiers were posting gory pictures from Iraq and Afghanistan. That's how the site got publicity, that's how it ended up in the news, and that's what made some local sheriff's office, and one that has no business attempting to prosecute obsenity cases or determine what is and is not obscene and what does and does not violate First Amendment rights, get involved.

So, bail issues aside, this case should never have existed in the first place and it's crap that this man is involved in these legal issues at all.

Of all the untold numbers of porn sites out there, it's no mere coincidence that this man's site, with which he produced no content and that consisted solely of what members submitted, gets chased down by some small town sheriff after it shows up on the news and displayed some none-too-Bush-friendly material on it and made many an American soldier look bad.

It's not at all a good sign that some meddling local law enforcement entity is attempting to play censor and run around trying to do things the federal government can not do.

I hope that when this man wins his case - which he will - he sues Polk Cty officials and gets a heap of money for it.

When some local sheriff tries to get revenge on someone who made the candidate he voted for look bad over a politically sensitive issue and attempts to interpret and then enforce the law by his own means irrespective of what is allowed for and subjects a citizen to undue difficulty and interference, that is not the "legal system working", as you're trying to suggest.

Can you not see the forest for the trees?

That site is disgusting and it's a complete disgrace to US forces. I'm all for freedom of expression, but I think creating a site where soldiers put up pics of dead civilians and get just as many cheers and wtg's as they do for pics of dead insurgents (which is pretty much just as obsene and awful) is asking for a huge ass kicking. Unfortunately these guys with no morals or values and a bloodlust seem to survive better than the decent soldiers, and end up back in our country for us to deal with. Nasty nasty scummy guys that we've payed to train how to kill.

For me it's getting to the point where it feels like I'd have to have a full frontal labotomy to rekindle any sort of national (or even planetary, fuck) pride. I can't read history books or watch the news without losing another piece of respect for my country, and I really hate that. I'm sick to death of people trying to moralize war in Iraq too, the USA has NEVER fought a war without being motivated by financial/resource gains, why would we start now? And if we have started now, what's taking us so long to help out in Africa? Because we'd have nothing to gain from it. Sure war has traditionally been about the rich using the lives of the poor for profit, but you'd think sooner or later they wouldn't be so easy to sucker. It's not rocket science! Oh well, sorry end rant I know I'm preaching to the choir. Being an adult truely sucks, I hate knowing how humanity works. I don't give my young nephew shit anymore when he wants to watch scary movies, let him think humans aren't the scariest nastiest thing on Earth for as long as he can.

Seriously though, these guys should be ashamed of themselves. Wonder what their mothers would think of them trading pics of dead civilians for amateur porn. I wish I never woulda seen what the hubub was about, I'm scarred from watching a vid of a cute little kid getting shot for throwing a rock at a big truck. Rationalized with 'it could have been a grenade'. I've tried to research, have yet to find any story of a little kid blowing up a vehicle in Iraq. Bleh...no wonder they are throwing rocks!

so many people say they're all for freedom of expression BUT.

there are lots of things out there i don't want to see, and some that seem VERY gross. but true freedom of expression only exists if ALL expression is free - i see pics of dead people and animals that make me sick. perhaps the thing that is the most disturbing about these pics is the behaviour of the servicemen, not the pics themselves? and that's a different issue altogether.

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Originally Posted by SLS

That site is disgusting and it's a complete disgrace to US forces. I'm all for freedom of expression, but...

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Originally Posted by basschick

so many people say they're all for freedom of expression BUT.

there are lots of things out there i don't want to see, and some that seem VERY gross. but true freedom of expression only exists if ALL expression is free - i see pics of dead people and animals that make me sick. perhaps the thing that is the most disturbing about these pics is the behaviour of the servicemen, not the pics themselves? and that's a different issue altogether.

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That's exactly what is the most disturbing about it. Dehuminizing the enemy is nothing new, but I'm scared to wonder what made all these guys think of pics of dead guys (I stress these are pics of insurgents AND civilians) as the next best thing to bringing home a head for their mantlepiece,something many expressed a desire to do on that site.

I full-heartedly agree with yours and BD's stance on this issue, it is purely the site itself and it's members that have me sick and disgusted. I wouldn't even have a problem with the pics, if they were shown in a humble 'war is a horrible thing' way that was meant to expose people to the reality of combat, nevermind that they are being traded for amateur porn. I agree with you that there should be no BUT when it comes to freedom of expression, but I also think that a persons family should have to consent before pics of their dead mangled body can be posted by someone else on the internet, which obviously wouldn't happen. When I ponder what is obscene, what it really comes down to for me is the mutual concent of the persons involved.

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Originally Posted by SLS

what it really comes down to for me is the mutual concent of the persons involved.

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Thats pretty much what it comes down to for the DOJ also from what i understand.

User posted 'porn' images on the forums without any 2257 compliance, if they guy had never gone on national tv to get 'exposure' he'd still be sitting pretty on his site and not in jail.

This is nothing to do with free speach, he broke the terms of his bail, plain and simple.

When you deliberatly fuck with a court order, for a pending case, you better be willing to accept the consequences of your actions.

Regards,

Lee

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Originally Posted by CorbinFisher_BD

The man ran a website on which soldiers were posting gory pictures from Iraq and Afghanistan. That's how the site got publicity, that's how it ended up in the news, and that's what made some local sheriff's office, and one that has no business attempting to prosecute obsenity cases or determine what is and is not obscene and what does and does not violate First Amendment rights, get involved.

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Exactly, HE went to the press, HE made his site a target, HE deliberatly broke a judges court order, HE has to pay the price.

Im sure we all know about 'porn friendly' states and counties, this guy was operating out of a county that has had numerous prosecutions relating to obscenity in the past 5-10 years, it has also won those same prosecutions.

Whilst ill be the first to say the initial charges are complete BS, that still doesnt change the fact that if a judge, federal, state or otherwise, tells you to do something, you do it. Its common sense. Especially when you still have to go to trial over the charges.

As it stands right now, it looks like this guy is going to sitting in a jail cell for the next 5 years while this case makes its way through the courts. Lets just hope they serve Christmas dinner in prison :)

Regards,

Lee

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Originally Posted by Lee

Exactly, HE went to the press, HE made his site a target, HE deliberatly broke a judges court order, HE has to pay the price.

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He was not the one that originally went to the press. He only started appearing in news articles after the story about his site broke, after Islamic rights organizations made public complaints about the conduct of soldiers on it and photos being posted, and after it was revealed the Army was conducting an investigation on whether any soldiers had committed criminal acts in taking and posting the photos.

What's more, how are you going to try to say that you on the one hand see that the initial charges are BS, yet on the other hand feel the legal system is working just great and fine when conditions that arose from and exist only because of the initial bullshit charges come about?



My question to you, Lee, is why do you try and pass yourself off as some uber-strict legal trooper whenever there's a case such as this? Because you do it every time. Is it because you're thinking it will make people believe you are the most upstanding, law-abiding webmaster around? Whether or not you are is beside the point. It's why you seem so gleeful and happy everytime there's a story of a legal case that comes around that intrigues me. You seem to make it a point to seek out these stories and post some hardline commentary about them in here. The impression I get from it is that you do it because you think people will look at it and think "Well Lee must be Mr. By-The-Book super-duper law-man". To me, however, it makes you look like someone who can not see the forest for the trees, does not appreciate the meaning of precedent when it comes to the law, and is overcompensating for something.

That's just my take on it.

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Originally Posted by CorbinFisher_BD

What's more, how are you going to try to say that you on the one hand see that the initial charges are BS, yet on the other hand feel the legal system is working just great and fine when conditions that arose from and exist only because of the initial bullshit charges come about?

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Because that is how i feel perhaps?

Just because the initial charges are BS, that doesnt mean you dont have to comply with a court order. Can you imagine if everyone started acting that way?

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My question to you, Lee, is why do you try and pass yourself off as some uber-strict legal trooper whenever there's a case such as this? Because you do it every time.

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Because, strangley enough, when it comes to stuff that effects our industry, i am strict about it, if something has the potential to damage my business, im going to have concern about it, plain and simple.

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Is it because you're thinking it will make people believe you are the most upstanding, law-abiding webmaster around?

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Not at all, there are several people here who can attest to the fact i really dont care what people think about me, they are entitled to their opinions just as i am. Thats what makes us all unique :)

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It's why you seem so gleeful and happy everytime there's a story of a legal case that comes around that intrigues me. You seem to make it a point to seek out these stories and post some hardline commentary about them in here.

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What you mean is, i engage people in a discussion, whats wrong with that? Isnt that what the GWW Community is about? sharing, talking, discussing things, especially those things that can have an effect on OUR businesses?

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To me, however, it makes you look like someone who can not see the forest for the trees, does not appreciate the meaning of precedent when it comes to the law, and is overcompensating for something

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I do appreciate the meaning of precendent fully, hence why i think this guy was such an asshole in the first place, if it does get decided that this guy is guilty in a court of law, its setting up the precedent for further bs obscenity charges on other webmasters.

That aside though, it still doesnt change the facts that this Wilson moron broke a court order, thats just something you dont do, if you do, you pay the penalty.

Im not even concerned with the videos or pictures he had posted on his site (the legal system will get to that in due course), this is about the bail revocation, nothing else, many in the industry seem to think that they can happily go about their hobbies or businesses and there are no consequences for their actions because they work on 'the net', this case, makes it perfectly clear that even though we work in the adult industry, online, there are in fact, very serious consequences when you start trying to act like you are above the law, we arent, nobody is. This guy and his attorneys, just didnt seem to understand that.

Regards,

Lee