TX Sting Operation

[Orleander]

Please Please, can someone explain to me the rationale behind this sting? I am not an LEO or a lawyer, so I don't understand the illegalities of what she did. :confused:

[Dan]

Webb, a former elementary school teacher, was arrested on charges that she broke a Texas obscenity law that bans the sale of items "designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs."

I guess Texas bans the sale of sex toys. dunno, seems like a weird law.

[Norm357]

When vibrators are outlawed, only outlaws will have vibrators! :D

[jaunt10]

maybe its because it was done in public. it did say she went door to door right? if someone wants to go look at a dildo then all power to them but if they bring the dildo to you without asking its kind of a different story.

[jaunt10]

i guess i did read the door to door thing wrong. i mean i could understand if it happened in Waco, its a real baptist kinda place (barely any bars and every place is closed on sunday) but Burleson is close to Austin which is very tolerant of this kind of stuff. I'm at a loss.

[sideshow]

Burleson is near Ft. Worth. Kelly Clarkston (of American Idol fame :rolleyes: ) is from Burleson. My g/f lives in Burleson, and she's told me about KKK marches before, so there are some ultra-conservative types there.

http://www.burlesontx.com/

[jaunt10]

thats true i think i'm getting it mixed up with another city close to austin....

[EX_529]

An easy way to stop these types of prosecutions:

Out everyone involved. Everyone from the state legislator who drafted the bill, to the DA who is prosecuting the case, to the Cheif who approved the investigation to even the officers involved. Publish their email addresses. Get the press involved. Make sure their pictures are well-known.

Basically all but the actual arresting officers are ***** politicians. If you embarass them enough, they will back down.

Arrest for selling sex toys? It sounds like a Texas politican needs to be arrested for wasting paper and felony arrogance.

[sideshow]

jaunt10:

Are you from TX?

What's life like at NAS Corpus?

[jaunt10]

i'm from brownsville texas, corpus is kinda like brownsville but bigger. the city of corpus isnt that great but i'm happy to be close to home and close to san antonio and austin. as far as nas corpus is concerned its a lot like being at the beach (texas beaches arent all that great, too much tar) all day but not getting in the water. as far as the smell is concerned. i'm grateful i'm here but wish i was in a better city, austin truly comes to mind...

[cjstudent]

IIRC, Texas is where the two guys got arrested while having gay sexual relations in their own bedroom because it is classified as sodomy in Texas which is illegal (or was). IIRC, the charges were dropped based on infringment on their right to privacy.

Sounds like Texas frowns upon any out-of-the-ordinary things relating to sex.

[Orleander]

These parties are by invite only, kinda like a Tupperware Party. So someone would have had to complain, go to the police, see if there is a law against it, and then set up the sting operation.

Is it the Police Chief who okays that or the District Attny or who? It seems like the District Attny would have to buy into it before because who wants to arrest during a sting operation and then have the Dist Attny say "You idiot! I'm not gonna prosecute her!"

Is it possible this was done to show the oddness of some of the laws, like the sodomy law being for gay men only? You know, to prove a point?

[Stump]

Geez... let 'em have their toys! Leave them alone. Good gosh.

[christrue]

As I recall being informed, those are legal to own but
illegal to sell. (Information from public media.)

[mrbelvetron]

This is the city(Burleson) that I plan on working for when I meet the requirements and I'm a member of their explorer post right now. I've actually met Mrs. Webb and her husband (he has two construction companies and was going to build a house for my parents at one point) and they are pretty nice people. I've also spoken to several of the officers at the station about it and they said that she sold them the toys from her husbands office, not one of her parties. If she had simply refused and told them to attend a party, or sold them at her shop no arrest would have been made. See, the way the folks that sell these items get around the law is they label them as "novelty items" not sexual devices. Then as long as they sell them in private homes or "novelty" stores, they are good to go. Hope this helps Orleander.