LOS ANGELES — A proposed trial date was submitted to the court today in Vivid Entertainment’s ongoing federal lawsuit over Los Angeles County’s Measure B.
Attorneys for Vivid Entertainment and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, intervenors in the lawsuit against Los Angeles County and its Public Health department, agreed to continue the case at Los Angeles federal court on Dec. 13, 2016.
The parties, in a joint stipulation to continue the trial and related dates, said that they need additional time to resolve discovery disputes informally and also expect that at least two motions to compel discovery will be filed in the case. The last day to file motions has been set for Sept. 15.
The long-running case has its roots in a 2012 Los Angeles County ballot measure sponsored by the AHF that requires porn performers to wear condoms.
The measure requires porn producers to pay an annual fee to the county's Department of Public Health and undergo bloodborne pathogen training.
Vivid Entertainment in January 2013 filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles County and its Public Health department claiming that the measure violated performers’ rights to free speech and expression.
Seven months later, U.S. District Judge Dean Pregerson struck down portions of the law, including a $2,000 to $2,500 permit fee, but upheld the constitutionality of requiring condoms in adult films and any fee that was “revenue neutral” to cover enforcement costs. He denied Vivid Entertainment’s motion for a preliminary injunction.
Vivid Entertainment appealed Pregerson’s ruling that upheld the measure, and in December 2014 the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the federal jurist’s order denying a motion to overturn the ordinance.
The 9th Circuit, however, held that Pregerson did not abuse his discretion in declining to enjoin the enforcement of Measure B’s condom mandate
Now Vivid Entertainment’s lawsuit goes back to Pregerson’s courtroom for a full trial.
At post time, Pregerson had not yet signed off on the proposed discovery, pretrial and trial dates.
Meanwhile, two co-plaintiffs involved in Vivid Entertainment’s suit, Kayden Kross and Logan Pierce, last week were dismissed as plaintiffs in Vivid Entertainment v. Los Angeles County.