BrianFlaherty

Brian has worked as a librarian for almost 20 years, which is why when he walks into bookstores customers immediately ask him for assistance. He specializes in researching law, sex, and wehre the two meet. He has taught classes in topics as diverse as legal research, and strap-on sex, and has written on topics equally diverse. For years he has done it for himself, now he does it for a few close friends. One day he'll do it for money. Read Full Profile...

Trafficking law and BDSM

 Posted by on July 1, 2014
Jul 012014
 
Trafficking law and BDSM

If you’ve been paying attention to the news, or to NCSF Media Updates, you’ve probably read about a recent case brewing in Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, of BDSM gone horribly wrong. Horribly. At the beginning of June the first story arrived, sensationalized: Three accused of keeping transgender woman as slave in Natchitoches Parish: “According to investigators, […]

Dec 202013
 
Bigamy legal?  Brown v. Buhman and the cultural lag time of the courts

If you follow the world of sex and law (as I assume you do), you may have noticed that the internets are ablaze with enthusiasm over a judge in Utah taking a slice out of the bigamy law.  The short form of the long story is that the Brown family, featured on reality TV show […]

Oct 242013
 
"Sexual freedom is a fundamental human right" - Woodhull Conference 2013

“Sexual freedom is a fundamental human right” – this mantra was the theme of Woodhull Alliance’s 2013 Sexual Freedom Summit, held this past September just outside of Washington DC.  The Alliance is an organization that unites disparate groups and people who fight for greater sexual freedom, whether their fights are in courts or classrooms, in […]

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DSM Revisions: The Impact on BDSM

 Posted by on July 26, 2013
Jul 262013
 
DSM Revisions: The Impact on BDSM

You may have heard that with the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (the DSM-5), the American Psychological Association had “depathologized kink;” that the paraphilias (Fetishism, Sexual Masochism, Sadism… all of the ISM’s close to our hearts)  are no longer necessarily diagnosable mental illnesses.  This is tremendous news for kinky folks – especially […]

May 212013
 
The "Cannibal Cop" & the "Thought Police"

There has been a lot written recently about the conviction of Gilberto Valle, “Cannibal cop,” and advent of “thought crime.” (an interesting point-counterpoint at Salon, and great thorough coverage by Daniel Engber’s Slate.com) Gilberto Valle is the New York cop who fantasized in elaborate and gruesome detail about kidnapping, cooking and eating a young woman […]

Prostitution & Professional Domination

 Posted by on January 30, 2013
Jan 302013
 
Prostitution & Professional Domination

In Rhode Island, by an oversight of the criminal code indoor prostitution was legal until just recently;  in Reno Nevada it’s still legal. Next door in California, anyone convicted of prostuitution could face up to one year in prison and $1,000 fine.  Las Vegas and Atlantic City used to be the only places you could […]

Gender and Compromise

 Posted by on November 11, 2012
Nov 112012
 
Gender and Compromise

All-or-nothing…compromise…all-or-nothing…compromise.  So beat the political drum for decades, with both parties electing theirs on all-or-nothing platforms, but most legislation happening as a result of compromise.  But you cannot help but notice that talk of compromise is at an all-time low, at least on the national stage.  In Massachusetts on the other hand, if you look […]

Consent and Assault… again?!

 Posted by on October 15, 2012
Oct 152012
 
Consent and Assault… again?!

OK, I will confess, I really wanted to write something else.  I really wanted to write about the interesting obscenity case going on in the United Kingdom, or about whether prostitution laws apply to pro-dommes.  I really wasn’t planning on writing another “you can’t consent to assault in the context of a BDSM relationship” article.  […]

Sex, and the Law: Consent and Beyond

 Posted by on August 2, 2012
Aug 022012
 
Sex, and the Law: Consent and Beyond

I presented a class on BDSM, Sex, and the Law: Consent and Beyond at the New England Dungeon Society last Friday, subtitle: “when things go horribly wrong.”   Because the truth is, “The Law” doesn’t get involved unless things do go horribly wrong.  In fact, some might say that getting “The Law” involved is the very definition of things […]

Federal Law and BDSM

 Posted by on October 11, 2011
Oct 112011
 

By Brian Flaherty Over the past few decades, the number of federal criminal laws has grown dramatically. Crimes which used to be prosecuted in the states have been adopted – co-opted – by the federal code. For example, in 1994 the U.S. Congress passed the Violence against Women Act, among other things federalizing laws against […]