PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Lori Sitler/Janice Fitzsimons

Phone: (302) 577-8314

Pager: (302) 247-1132

Date: December 23, 2004

REHOBOTH FILM FESTIVAL DID NOT VIOLATE LAW

(Georgetown, DE): Attorney General Jane Brady and Acting Superintendent Thomas F. MacLeish today announced that the Delaware State Police (DSP) and the Attorney General’s office have concluded their inquiry, initiated in response to a complaint from a Millsboro woman, into whether any laws were violated last month at the Rehoboth Beach Film Festival. The complaint alleged that sexually explicit films shown on “Kids Day” violated Delaware’s obscenity laws. 



The investigation by DSP found that the movies in question were shown in a separate part of the multiplex theater for which a separate system for selling and redeeming tickets was in place. The layout of the theater would preclude an inadvertent glimpse of one of the explicit movies by anyone who had not purchased a ticket sold by the film festival. Furthermore, there is no evidence that any minor saw any of these explicit movies. 



Based upon Delaware law and the obscenity standards established by the U.S. Supreme Court, it was determined that there were no violations of the law. 



Attorney General Brady commented, “While no violation of the law occurred, nevertheless, showing movies of a graphic sexual nature in the same cineplex and on the same day as the festival’s “Kids Day,” demonstrated a lack of judgment and a lack of sensitivity to reasonable parents’ concerns.” 

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