Do You Have A Lawful Right To A Swing Party?
The municipality of Duncanville, Tx which is outscirts of Dallas has been involved in its own little Jerry Falwell style bible strip clash with the founders of a secluded “swingers club” called “The Cherry Pit“. The Cherry Pit is a private landed property tucked in away in an upscale Duncanville residential district. The Cherry Pit advertises on the internet and according to advertised information draws as many as 140 guests to a weekend party.
The Cherry Pit has been holding adult-oriented parties where couples pay a fee for entry and are able get involved in pretty much any sort of sex deeds they want on the location. It is the position of the hosts that this does not constitute a “business” as the entry charge is to cover the cost of food, beverages etc and not a cost for the privilege of engaging in sex from the tame to the “Pulp Fiction” apple in the mouth brand of entertainment…. It is rumored for an extra service money they would even “bring out the gimp“….(just joking)
This whole bru ha ha happened backin December of 2006 when after some years of Cherry Pitt neighbors complaining about the offence, traffic and “unsavory element” “the pit” was bringing to the neighborhood, the City of Duncanville passed the subsequent order:
“the operation and maintenance of a adult to be against the law and a public nuisance. Violation of the new order will result in a fine of up to $2,000.”
The city of Duncanville then decided that the gatherings at the Cherry Pit were more than just a gathering of “friends and family” looking for some fun and determined that it was in fact a sexually oriented industry and subject to the regulation. The response of Julie Norris, one of the owners of “The Pit” was the following:
“I don’t comprehend what their meaning of a industry is, but to my understanding a business is public – anybody can just walk into it and you shall pay to get in and we are none of that,” Norris said. “I allow gifts. Have you ever had your buddies over for a booze and asked everybody to pitch in $10 or bring a dish? That is precisely what we do. The only condition to get into my home is that anyone call and let me know that you are coming and you are on my reservation list.”
Ms Norris went on to state that she believed that the decree is a excuse to harass their way of life and values and that the ordinance regulating the club violated their First Amendment Rights to Privacy.
“It boils down to people want to put their principles into my own home and I will stand against that,” Norris said. “That is not what the Constitution allows.”
The founders of the Cherry Pit then counter sued the city claiming the regulation banning swingers clubs violates their privacy and due process rights. They are mostly using the same argument under which a right to privacy was found under Roe v. Wade. They have to use this method in making the right to privacy argument because there is really no right to personal privacy spelled out in the Constitution.
The Cherry Pit’s legal advisor, Ed Klein, said the city tries to regulate private acts in a private dwelling using the public irritation law as a “pretext” to do so….
The Cherry Pitt has remained open while all the official squabbling has taken place… Only today the City of Duncanville broadened the decree meant to shut the club down by making the explanation of a sex club more broad and add a local petition procedure for adult clubs that the town orders to close.
***October 29, 2008 A jury found the owners of the Cherry Pit accountable of unlawfully operating a sexually oriented business.
So what do you think? Should private citizens be tolerated to “swap pits” at the Pitt without the state getting its’ rocks off?
You obviously can not do cocaine in the confidentiality of your home. These things are illegal regardless of where they are engaged in.
Let us also keep this in mind. Duncanville is NOT trying to order the Texas adult dating personals showing up at the place. They are attempting to regulate the hosts of the place in cheering the “Piters” to engage in sex for a fee at their home…. The government is NOT regulating where and with whom you can have sex with. They are telling the owners of the Pit that if they are charging you to do it, they are subject to state administration. There is a huge dissimilarity…
No one is going to advice you that you should not go down to your neighborhood red light district and get a blowjob from Lily the local crack addict or Eddie the cross dressing pimp or even take any of parejas sexo to the Cherry Pit for some fun. We of course know nonetheless that the act of handing over a dollar in exchange for the quickie makes the otherwise consenting act illegal prostitution on one end and the illegal act of soliciting a prostitute on the other end no matter where it happens (in addition to whatsoever other nasty action goes with “the other end”). The state has decided that there is a forceful state concern to normalize and/or criminalize such acts…
***October 29, 2008 A jury found the owner of the Cherry Pit guilty on 10 counts of running a sexually oriented industry. The Cherry Pit has since been closed. While counsel for the owners stated that the conclusion would be appealed and the statute challenged, it is vague if either of those was ever pursued.
Tags: adult clubs, adult party, choice, community, constitutional rights, legal rights, orgy, parties, privacy, swingers, texas