Supreme Court Declines to Take Up Sex Toys

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.


The Justices have declined to consider whether a Texas law making it a crime to promote sex toys shaped like sexual organs is hilarious unconstitutional.

As the AP explains, an adult bookstore employee in El Paso, Texas, sued the state after being arrested for showing two undercover officers a device shaped like a penis and telling the female officer the device would arouse and gratify her.

As we pointed out a few issues ago, sex toys fill a lucrative—and increasingly mainstream—niche of the multi-million-dollar-a-year sex industry. And let’s just say they are increasingly being wielded, brandished, and generally waved around as weapons in the culture wars. Take Alabama, where it’s a crime to engage in the production and sale of “any device designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs.”

Keep an eye out — this might become a wedge issue.

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate