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JM Productions/Five Star Obscenity Bust

Ernest Greene aka Ira Levine posts June 2 on Nina.com:

I do not see anything narrowly political about the bust, as in somehow related to the Abu Ghraib thing, but it is clearly part of the larger DOJ strategy of calling out the harshest material first, hoping to secure a conviction for adult obscenity against someone somewhere that will actually hold up as far as SCOTUS.

Therefore, I'm hardly shocked that JM was next on the list after Rob Black. Like Black, Jeff Steward has a major attitude problem and that's exactly what gets you busted everytime. When I was a police beat reporter, I learned that the crime for which most people actually got dragged downtown was the general offense of "being an asshole," a description I heard used aloud more than once on that gig. Certainly and at every level Steward qualifies.

Full disclosure here. He said something truly vicious about Nina on his cheesy little forum a few months ago that led to some discussion of litigation, so if I'm not exactly grief-stricken over his troubles at a personal level, that should come as no surprise. Having some jerk post or allow to be posted on his bandwidth the suggestion that one's wife should be murdered along with other porn performers of her generation solely on grounds of said jerk's ideas about aging isn't likely to inspire sympathy.

And it doesn't help that I find many of his movies and his company's general posture repellant. Any producer with "Whores Degraded Daily" as a slogan clearly isn't too concerned about the disapproval of others, including those who can actually make something of it.

However, the fundamental things apply. The principle at stake here is still freedom of expression. Steward's company has, at times, been accused of physically and psychologically abusing performers. If any of that is true, the individuals involved should be arrested and tried for assault and battery. But that's not the charge that's been filed. The indictments concern the distribution of obscene content, and such indictments must always be opposed, however offensive the content in question. "The principle of free thought is not free thought for those who agree with us but freedom for the thought we hate," says US Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes in United States v. Schwimmer (1929). That's what's at stake both in this instance and in the Rob Black case.

Should the feds succeed in establishing that some speech (as opposed to physical action) is so hateful as to merit criminal prosecution, any speech might be next, and don't think it won't be. If they get their convictions against Steward and Black, expect them to try and draw the noose tighter until it includes Vivid, Andrew Blake and us. That's why we have to fight on behalf of those we don't feel the least obligation to like. It's our own rights we're defending.

If any woman feels she was actually brutalized in a Donkey Punch video, let her come forward and see the brigands hauled off to the slammer amid cheers from many of us. Until then, this is still about sending somebody to jail over some pictures, and that kind of thing has no place in any society that calls itself free.

Nina Hartley writes: "Hate him as I do (or is it pity?), we must defend JM Productions against any content-based prohibition or it's our ass next. I would hope, though, that some woman would come forward to press assault charges against him for the Donkey Punch series. Reprehsible. Simply awful stuff."

I get a call from a source at JM Productions: "Donkey Punch is a Chatsworth Pictures [owned by Grip & Cram Johnson (Tony Malice)] movie, not a JM movie. Jeff Steward had nothing to do with it."

Tony Malice emails: "Luke, here is the post about Nina Hartley that Ernest Greene is referencing. It is not by Jeff Steward or JM Productions. People insist on making the false assumption that we are the only posters on XPT, that is FALSE. There are literally hundreds and thousands of posters."

June 9, Ira Levine writes:

Hi Luke,

It's been brought to my attention that an item you quoted from a recent thread on www.nina.com regarding the legal problems of JM productions and Jeff Steward gave Mr. Steward grave offense. Rereading what I said there, I can see why. As my original intention was to defend Mr. Steward's First Amendment rights and I could easily enough have done so without personalizing the whole matter, I feel I owe him an apology and offer it wholeheartedly and without qualification. I have removed the thread in question from our site and will have no further comment regarding Mr. Steward or his company there or elsewhere.

I oppose obscenity prosecutions in all instances and feel that it is in the best interest of the rest of the industry to do so as well. Enough said.

Nate Glass writes:

With all due respect to an icon like Nina Hartley… To say that everyone needs to defend Jeff is EXACTLY right. Now when it comes to beating up Jeff for Donkey Punch…ummm…I find it hard to read the text from 2 performers who have made a good number of hardcore BONDAGE titles, lecturing Jeff on the content of his product. Is Donkey Punch much different than having clothespins all over someone’s body while they wear a leather face mask?

And before someone tries to explain to me what Bondage is all about. I already know. But do you think these feds care about the difference? Weren’t all the girls in Donkey Punch consenting adults? Aren’t all the girls in Nina’s bondage movies consenting adults that enjoy the pleasures of pain? I have the highest respect for what Nina and Ernest have done and continue to do, they put out a great product that isn’t for EVERYONE and not EVERYONE can understand. There are a lot of people who don’t understand how anyone could be into Bondage, but there’s also a LOT of people who don’t “get” JM’s product either.

When I used to get obscenity charges from the city of Dallas ½ the time it was for Max Hardcore, the other ½ the time it was for bondage and foot fetish videos. Go figure. The feds are going after the shock value first, so that they can get some sort of precedent set using Jeff, Max, and Rob. Then it’s open season.

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