Skip to main content

Adult Entertainment Industry Asks Judge to Invalidate Condom Measure

Support Provided By
measure-b-condom-lawsuit
Measure B, which was on the L.A. County November ballot, requires condoms to be used in adult movies. | Photo: Rosa Trieu for Neon Tommy/Flickr/Creative Commons License

Adult filmmakers and actors in Los Angeles are arguing that the county law requiring porn actors to wear condoms on film shoots is unconstitutional and should be invalidated, according to court papers obtained today.

Vivid Entertainment and porn actors Kayden Kross and Logan Pierce filed suit in January in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles in an effort to overturn the county's Safer Sex in the Adult Film Industry Act.

In new court filings, attorneys for Vivid argue that Measure B puts an "intolerable burden" on the right to free expression and is thus unconstitutional.

A request for comment left with county attorneys after regular office hours was not immediately returned.

The plaintiffs also contend that the county ordinance is needless since the industry already regulates itself against disease.

Vivid's attorneys have asked the judge to grant a preliminary injunction to halt enforcement of the law.

U.S. District Judge Dean D. Pregerson set a hearing in the matter for May 6.

The measure, which passed with a 57 percent margin of voter support in the November election, requires producers of adult films to obtain a public health permit from the county, follow all health and safety laws, including condom use, and pay a permit fee to cover enforcement of the law.

The porn industry also maintains that the measure could end up driving production overseas, where no protections exist.

Support Provided By
Read More
Gray industrial towers and stacks rise up from behind the pitched roofs of warehouse buildings against a gray-blue sky, with a row of yellow-gold barrels with black lids lined up in the foreground to the right of a portable toilet.

California Isn't on Track To Meet Its Climate Change Mandates. It's Not Even Close.

According to the annual California Green Innovation Index released by Next 10 last week, California is off track from meeting its climate goals for the year 2030, as well as reaching carbon neutrality by 2045.
A row of cows stands in individual cages along a line of light-colored enclosures, placed along a dirt path under a blue sky dotted with white puffy clouds.

A Battle Is Underway Over California’s Lucrative Dairy Biogas Market

California is considering changes to a program that has incentivized dairy biogas, to transform methane emissions into a source of natural gas. Neighbors are pushing for an end to the subsidies because of its impact on air quality and possible water pollution.
A Black woman with long, black brains wears a black Chicago Bulls windbreaker jacket with red and white stripes as she stands at the top of a short staircase in a housing complex and rests her left hand on the metal railing. She smiles slightly while looking directly at the camera.

Los Angeles County Is Testing AI's Ability To Prevent Homelessness

In order to prevent people from becoming homeless before it happens, Los Angeles County officials are using artificial intelligence (AI) technology to predict who in the county is most likely to lose their housing. They would then step in to help those people with their rent, utility bills, car payments and more so they don't become unhoused.