Do You Have A Legitimate Right To A Orgy?
The town of Duncanville, Tx which is neighborhood of Dallas has been involved in its own small Jerry Falwell style bible belt clash with the founders of a private “adult club” called “The Cherry Pit“. The Cherry Pit is a private house tucked in away in an expensive Duncanville housing district. The Cherry Pit promotes on the web and according to published information draws as many as 150 members to a weekend party.
The Cherry Pit has been holding private swingers party where couples pay a charge for entry and are allowed get involved in mosly any kind of sexualgroup sex activity they want on the location. It is the position of the hosts that this does not constitute a “business” as the entry money is to cover the price of food, beverages etc and not a charge for the privilege of engaging in sex from the tame to the “Pulp Fiction” apple in the mouth brand of entertainment…. It is whispered for an additional service charge they could even “bring out the gimp“….(just kidding)
The entire deal started latein October of 2006 when past some years of Cherry Pitt neighbors complaining about the crime, noisy visitors and “unsavory element” “the pit” was bringing to the area, the City of Duncanville approved the subsequent order:
“the function and maintenance of a club to be illegal and a public irritation. Violation of the new ordinance can result in a fine of up to $3,000.”
The city of Duncanville after that decided that the parties at the Cherry Pit were more than simply a party of “friends and family” looking for some fun and determined that it was basically a sexually oriented industry and subject to the decree. The answer of Julie Norris, one of the owners of “The Pit” was as follows:
“I do not recognize what their meaning of a industry is, but to my understanding a business is public – anyone can just walk into it and you shall pay to get in and we are none of that,” Norris said. “I accept gifts. Have you ever had your friends over for a grill and asked everybody to pitch in $5 or bring a food? That is exactly what we do. The only requirement to get into my residence is that a person call and let me know that you are coming and you are on my reservation list.”
Ms Norris continued to state that she assumed that the regulation is a excuse to harass their lifestyles and values and that the order regulating the club violated their First Amendment Rights to Privacy.
“It boils down to people want to put their ethics into my private house and I am going to stand against that,” Norris said. “That is not what the Constitution allows.”
The owners of the Cherry Pit afterward counter sued the city claiming the decree banning swingers clubs violates their solitude and due process rights. They are mainly using the same argument under which a right to privacy was found under Roe v. Wade. They have to use this scheme 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 lawer, Edward Klain, said the city is trying to regulate private acts in a private house using the public irritation law as a “pretext” to do so….
The Cherry Pitt has remained open while all the legal squabbling has taken place… Just today the City of Duncanville broadened the decree intended to shut the club down by making the definition of a swinger club more broad and add a local appeal procedure for swinger clubs that the city orders to close.
***October 29, 2008 A jury found the owners of the Cherry Pit guilty of illegally operating a sexually oriented industry.
So what do you think? Should private citizens be allowed to “swap pits” at the Pitt without the authorities getting its’ rocks off?
You obviously can’t do drugs in the privacy of your house. These things are illegal regardless of where they are engaged in.
Let us also keep this in mind. Duncanville is NOT trying to control the Texas swinger adult dating showing up at the place. They are attempting to regulate the founders of the house 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 government management. There is a huge distinction…
No one is going to tell you that you cant go down to your local red light district and get a blowjob from Lily the local crack addict or Johnny the cross dressing pimp or even take any of busco pareja swinger to the Cherry Pit for some fun. We surely know however that the act of handing over a dollar in exchange for the blowjob makes the otherwise agreeable step illegal prostitution on one end and the illegal act of soliciting a prostitute on the other end no matter where it occurs (in addition to whatsoever other wicked doing goes with “the other end”). The state has decided that there is a undeniable state awareness 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 commerce. The Cherry Pit has since been shut down. While counsel for the owners stated that the decree would be appealed and the statute challenged, it is unclear if either of those was ever pursued.