Do You Have A Lawful Right To A Swing Party?
The town of Duncanville, Texas that is outscirts of Dallas has been involved in its own petite Jerry Falwell style holy scripture belt conflict with the owners of a secret “adult club” named “The Cherry Pit“. The Cherry Pit is a private residence tucked in away in an fashionable Duncanville suburban area. The Cherry Pit announces on the web and according to published news draws as many as 150 members to a weekend social gathering.
The Cherry Pit has been holding swingers orgy party where guests pay a fee for admission and are allowed get involved in almost any kind of sexualgroup 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 expence of food, beverages etc and not a fee 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 charge they would even “bring out the gimp“….(just joking)
The entire bru ha ha started backin October of 2007 when past several years of Cherry Pitt neighbors complaining about the offence, traffic and “unsavory element” “the pit” was bringing to the area, the City of Duncanville passed the next order:
“the operation and maintenance of a club to be illegal and a public nuisance. Violation of the new decree will outcome in a fine of up to $3,000.”
The city of Duncanville after that decided that the gatherings at the Cherry Pit were more than simply a party of “friends and family” seeking some enjoyment and resoluted that it was in fact a sexually oriented business and subject to the ordinance. The answer of Julie Norris, one of the founders of “The Pit” was as follows:
“I do not comprehend what their meaning of a industry is, but to my understanding a business is public – anybody can simply walk into it and you shall pay to get in and we are none of that,” Norris said. “I allow donations. Have you ever had your friends over for a grill and asked everyone to pitch in $5 or bring a dish? That is exactly what we do. The only condition 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 went on to state that she understood that the order is a excuse to assault their way of life and beliefs and that the rule regulating the club violated their First Amendment Rights to Privacy.
“It boils down to people want to put their morality into my own dwelling and I am going to stand against that,” Norris said. “That is not what the Constitution allows.”
The owners of the Cherry Pit after that counter sued the city claiming the ordinance banning sex clubs violates their solitude 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 scheme in making the right to privacy argument because there is in fact no right to personal privacy spelled out in the Constitution.
The Cherry Pit’s attorney, Edward Klein, said the city is trying to regulate private acts in a private house using the public nuisance law as a “pretext” to do so….
The Cherry Pitt has remained open while all the legal squabbling has taken place… Only today the City of Duncanville broadened the decree meant to lock the club down by making the definition of a sex club more broad and add a local appeal procedure for adult clubs that the city orders to shut down.
***October 29, 2008 A jury found the owners of the Cherry Pit guilty of illegitimately operating a sexually oriented business.
So what you do think? Should private citizens be allowed to “swap pits” at the Pitt without the state getting its’ rocks off?
You obviously can not do heroin in the isolation of your property. These things are illegal regardless of where they are engaged in.
Let us as well keep this in mind. Duncanville is NOT trying to order the Texas swingers showing up at the house. They are trying to control the founders of the place in allowing the “Piters” to engage in sex for a fee at their home…. The state 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 control. There is a huge difference…
Nobody is going to tell you that you should not go down to your local red light district and get a blowjob from Lily the local crack addict or Bobby the cross dressing pimp or even take any of busco pareja swinger to the Cherry Pit for some fun. We of course are aware of however that the act of handing over a dollar in exchange for the blowjob makes the otherwise agreeable operation illegal prostitution on one end and the illegal action of soliciting a prostitute on the other end no matter where it happens (in addition to whatsoever other wicked action goes with “the other end”). The government has decided that there is a compelling government 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 industry. The Cherry Pit has since been locked. While counsel for the owners stated that the conclusion would be appealed and the statute challenged, it is unclear if either of those was ever pursued.