A judge in Cleburne, Texas dismissed an obscenity charge against a woman this past Friday, citing that the case was a "waste of county resources". The woman had been arrested for selling two sex toys to undercover police officers posing as a couple. The sex toys were cosidered to be "obscene devices" under Texas law, which are defined as a "simulated sexual organ or an item designed to stimulate the genitals".

Kudos to this judge for telling it just like it is. I fail to see what is so obscene about selling sex toys to adult women at Tupperware style parties as this woman did. It isn't as if she was selling these items out of the back of a pickup truck on an elementary school playground.

There is nothing "obscene" about sexual pleasure for its own sake or anything that aids in this goal. There is something obscene about invading people's privacy with laws which are most likely inspired by religious fundamentalism that is undoubtedly motivated by the fear that someone, somewhere is having a good time. There is something warped about police officers who, instead of seeking to rid the streets of violent criminals, waste their time and resources going after people whose only "crime" is to aid those in search of a better sexual "buzz".

Common sense in Texas needs to be taken a step further by permanently abolishing such repressive "obscenity" laws from state law and actually getting in step with the 21st century.

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