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Larry Flynt - America’s Unsung Hero of our First Amendment

By Michael Lang on Oct 6, 2008 in SOLVERS AND SOLUTIONS

Larry_Flynt_2007 If I told you that Larry Flynt, publisher of the uber-porn magazine Hustler, was one of the greatest champions of the Constitution’s First Amendment this country has ever produced….would you believe me?

Probably not!

Well the fact is that we owe many thanks to Larry Flynt for spending tens of millions of his own dollars in the pursuit of protecting and strengthening free speech in America.

His visibility has waned a bit since the 1970s, when he seemed to be in court every other month fighting obscenity and First Amendment battles, but not his spirit. There is a new documentary on cable’s Independent Film Channel (IFC) spotlighting Flynt’s political activism titled, “Larry Flynt: The Right to Be Left Alone,” a film which was the inspiration for this article.

LEGAL BATTLES: It all began with the many legal battles regarding the regulation of pornography and free speech within the United States, especially attacking the Miller v. California (1973) obscenity exception to the First Amendment.

He was first prosecuted on obscenity and organized crime charges in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1976 at the behest of Charles H. Keating Jr., who headed a local anti-pornography committee. He was sentenced to seven to 25 years and served six days; the sentence was overturned on a technicality. One argument resulting from this case went up to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1981.

NOTE: You may have seen the name, Charles Keating Jr., in the media recently has he, along with Senator John McCain were part of the infamous “Keating 5” who were indicted for playing a pivotal role in the Savings & Loan scandal in the 1980s.

Because of a vulgar outburst by Flynt during another trial, the case is occasionally reviewed today in first year law school Civil Procedure courses, LARRY FLYNT2 due to its implications regarding personal jurisdiction over a defendant. During the proceedings, Flynt reportedly shouted "Fuck this court!" and called the justices "nothing but eight assholes and a token cunt" (referring to Justice Sandra Day O’Connor). Chief Justice Warren E. Burger had him arrested for contempt of court, but the charge was later dismissed.

Also in 1983, during a trial about his refusal to disclose the source of the John DeLorean surveillance tapes potentially embarrassing to the FBI, he wore an American flag as a diaper and was subsequently jailed for six months for desecration of the flag. In the videos, upon arrest, the FBI is shown threatening DeLorean, in effect asking him whether he would like to choose between defending himself or having "his daughter’s head smashed in".

If you are thinking that Larry Flynt was intentionally trying to provoke the court and instigate controversy, you are absolutely correct. He was, by design, a world class “shit starter.” Fortunately for him, he had the resources (time and money) to deal with the repercussions of his behavior.

Flynt’s most famous courtroom battle, and the one most are familiar with, is Hustler Magazine v. Falwell. when, in 1988, Flynt eventually won a Supreme Court decision in a suit initiated by the Reverend Jerry Falwell. Remember Jerry? He was an American evangelical Christian pastor, televangelist, and a controversial conservative commentator who founded Liberty University and co-founded the Moral Majority making him the self-appointed arbiter of all things morally right and wrong.

LARRY FLYNT in WHEELCHAIR It began in 1983 when Hustler published an offensive ad parody suggesting that Falwell’s first sexual encounter was with his mother in an out-house. Falwell sued Flynt citing emotional distress caused by the ad, but lost in court. The decision clarified that public figures cannot recover damages for, "intentional infliction of emotional distress" based on parodies.

After the death of Falwell, Larry Flynt stated that, despite their differences, they were able to develop a friendship over the years, adding that, "I always appreciated his sincerity even though I knew what he was selling and he knew what I was selling."

Not all of Larry Flynt’s courtroom battles involved obscenity issues. He has been fighting for the rights of the journalists to cover wars and military conflicts dating back to his first suit against the Defense Department and the invasion of the tiny island of Grenada.

In a 2004 interview with Amy Goodman of Democracy Now!, Flynt explains:

“When we invaded Afghanistan I sued the government again because when you look at all of those reports on the evening news and you see those faces popping up over the map of Iraq, you got the impression that it was being covered well by the American press, but many of those correspondents were hundreds of miles away from areas that they were reporting on. So, there was no press that was accompanying the soldiers on the battlefield. So, we sued, but we made it much more comprehensive, saying that we have a First Amendment right to cover the war. If Americans are sending their sons and daughters to die in a war, they are have a right to know how that war is being conducted. I mean, if Franklin Roosevelt had taken the attitude that George Bush had taken, you know, we wouldn’t even have a History Channel today. You know, for posterity sake, I think the conduct of a war, you know, needs to be recorded, but not only that, we do have that First Amendment right…..”

WATCH VIDEO 1 & VIDEO 2 – VERY REVEALING

When asked what do you want your legacy to be, his response was, “that I spent most of my adult life fighting to expand the parameters of free speech. I can’t think of a more noble goal. I think history will treat me a lot better than the present does.”

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