Flutterby™! : Sex toys legal in Texas

Over at Sexuality.About.com, Cory points to and comments about the news that sex toys are now completely legal in the Fifth Circuit (Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi). In the case of Reliable Consultants, Inc. v. Earle, the counsel for the State of Texas does not intend to seek a writ of certiorari, which means that the February 12^th ruling stands.

"Because of Lawrence [v. Texas], which overturned Texas' anti-sodomy statute], the issue before us is whether the Texas statute impermissibly burdens the individual’s substantive due process right to engage in private intimate conduct of his or her choosing," wrote Judge Thomas Morrow Reavley for the panel. "Contrary to the district court’s conclusion, we hold that the Texas law burdens this constitutional right. An individual who wants to legally use a safe sexual device during private intimate moments alone or with another is unable to legally purchase a device in Texas, which heavily burdens a constitutional right. This conclusion is consistent with the decisions in Carey [v. Population Services Int'l] and Griswold [v. Connecticut], both cases involving distribution and use of contraceptives], where the Court held that restricting commercial transactions unconstitutionally burdened the exercise of individual rights."