The Supreme Court has refused to overturn a lower court ruling upholding Alabama's ban on sex toys. There is no right to consumer privacy in sexually stimulating devices.

A divided three-judge panel of the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed. It said in a ruling last July that siding with the sex toy merchants could open the door to the legalization of undesirable sexual behavior such as prostitution. "If the people of Alabama in time decide that prohibition on sex toys is misguided, or ineffective, or just plain silly, they can repeal the law and be finished with the matter," the court said.

"On the other hand, if we today craft a new fundamental right by which to invalidate the law, we would be bound to give that right full force and effect in all future cases including, for example, those involving adult incest, prostitution, obscenity, and the like."

Doesn't this hurt Alabama businesses who sell the goods? Since it is lawful to possess them, just not to sell them, Alabamans will have to purchase them outside the state.

A related story here.