Josh Duggar, of TLC’s “19 Kids and Counting” fame is in trouble again. This time, he’s being sued by porn star Danica Dillon for emotional and physical damage she sustained while the two had consensual sex.

Dillon, whose non-stage name is Ashley Stamm-Northup, filed the suit on Tuesday. She’s asking for $500,000 total in damages. She alleges that the two had sex twice earlier this spring, after they met in a strip club in Philadelphia. By her account, he paid her $600 for lap dances and then they went back to his hotel room, where he gave her another $1500 for sex.

However, while that sex started as consensual, Dillon claims that it turned too rough, he manhandled her, and that “it felt as if she were being raped.” She claims that it exceeded her consent at that point. Then, when Duggar allegedly tried to “apologize” to Dillon for the encounter a month later, the same thing happened–they engaged in consensual sex that turned too rough.

Dillon claims that Duggar “assaulted her to the point of causing her physical and emotional injuries” and that she is now seeing a doctor for the severe anxiety caused by the encounters. The lawsuit claims that she is suffering from mental anguish similar to post-traumatic stress disorder. Finally, she claims that as a result of the injuries she sustained from Duggar, she has been unable to “work in her chosen field”–presumably pornography.

Duggar has been a popular topic for the press so far this year, particularly after revelations surfaced that he molested young women as a teenager, including a few of his younger sisters. He resigned his position at the Family Research Council, a conservative Christian advocacy group that lobbies against gay rights, abortion, pornography, and other social issues. Then, his name was posted during the Ashley Madison data breach this summer, and contained credit card information linking him to the infamous cheating site. He checked himself into rehab shortly after that data was released.

In a statement based on those events, Duggar said:

As I am learning the hard way, we have the freedom to choose to our actions, but we do not get to choose our consequences. I deeply regret all hurt I have caused so many by being such a bad example. I humbly ask for your forgiveness.

In light of this lawsuit, Duggar may have to testify about his history, including the past crimes of molestation that his family covered up. Duggar can’t seem to stay out of the news for long, and this lawsuit may open the door to even more horrific revelations.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Josh Duggar is in Trouble Yet Again appeared first on Law Street.

Lacy lingerie and conversations about porn. They sound like the start to a good book or late night HBO programming. In fact, though, these are real world issues taking place in court rooms near you.

Pink Panties Prank

Courtesy of GIPHY.

As the saying goes, sometimes when life doesn’t go the way you want it to go, it is time to put on your big girl panties … because if you don’t, and you go to the same hospital as Andrew Walls, you might get stuck wearing someone else’s.

When you go to the hospital to have a colonoscopy, you are probably not in the best mood. And if you are, why? That’s weird. Anyway, let’s assume that everybody goes into this procedure without a smile. Well, wouldn’t you then like it if a hospital worker tried to cheer you up when the procedure was over?

Imagine this: you wake up from anesthesia, nervous about your results and mad that this is how you are using your day off. Add to that that you actually work at this surgery center so you might be a little embarrassed and nervous that co-workers saw you naked or might learn the verdict before you. Wouldn’t you laugh if you realized somebody had placed pink, lace panties on your unconscious body? (Disclosure: I probably actually would laugh at that, but then again, I am pretty weird.)

In the above scenario, did you laugh like me or were you outraged? If you were the latter, then you will feel Andrew Wall’s pain when I tell you that my above hypothetical was his reality. In 2012, Wall really did go to a surgery center where he was at that time employed, had a colonoscopy, and woke up wearing lady lingerie. What would you do in this situation? If you are like Wall, you would sue for intentional infliction of emotional distress.

I don’t know if he’ll win, but I feel confident saying that if he goes to court and shows off the evidence, he’ll probably look good while trying.

 Privacy and the (Non)Porn Star

Courtesy of Tumblr.

Justice Stewart famously said, “I know it when I see it” about pornographic materials. Well, apparently he should teach classes in recognizing smut because if those lessons were available, radio station owner Entercom Kansas City may not have lost a million dollars.

Afentra and Danny Boi had a morning radio show called “Afentra’s Big Fat Morning Buzz.” One day, the pair decided to host an impromptu ‘name that possible porn star’ contest with an unintentional million dollar prize. Listeners of the show were asked to text in the name of a supposed local porn star. Ashley Patton’s name got submitted twice. What more proof would you need to talk bad about somebody on air than that? Well, the DJs decided they should probably find at least a little more before they dragged her name through the mud. So they did a Google search.

If you Google ‘Ashley Patton, porn star,’ at least pre-this story, you would apparently not come up with anything, but you would get a Google suggestion asking if you meant Ashley Payton. A Payton search will pull up a lot of stuff Justice Stewart would have recognized. And since Payton and Patton are really, really similar, they must be the same people, right?

So now, with proof in hand, the radio hosts took to the air with the story “Ashley Patton is a Porn Star” and stated her former high school —  there was even a play-by-play of the Google Results with no mention of the name change. They then posted her name on their website as part of a list of suspected local porn stars. They did admit the list was “unofficial,” but said it with an implied wink. The show was then made available as a podcast.

As it turns out, Payton and Patton are actually two very different people. And Patton did not appreciate the comparison. She called the radio station to complain; and the Program Director, Scott Geiger, answered the call. She told him what happened, and he, previously unaware of the segment, asked her the very obvious question: “Well, are you?” and when she said no, he followed up with the most logical next question: “How do you know that you’re not a porn star?” (Apparently Geiger had not been a Justice Stewart fan and didn’t realize it’s actually hard to accidentally become a porn star.)

Eventually the list was changed and the podcast was removed, but it was too late. Patton brought a lawsuit for false light invasion of privacy and negligent supervision. Which is how she became the winner of a one million dollar prize that the radio show neither planned on giving nor wanted to award.

You could search online or watch subscription stations after ten if you want to find some risqué material, but why bother? If you want the really dirty materials, just head on down to court.

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Ashley Shaw (@Smoldering_Ashes) is an Alabama native and current New Jersey resident. A graduate of both Kennesaw State University and Thomas Goode Jones School of Law, she spends her free time reading, writing, boxing, horseback riding, playing trivia, flying helicopters, playing sports, and a whole lot else. So maybe she has too much spare time.

Featured image courtesy of [Mike Small via Flickr]

Ashley Shaw

Ashley Shaw is an Alabama native and current New Jersey resident. A graduate of both Kennesaw State University and Thomas Goode Jones School of Law, she spends her free time reading, writing, boxing, horseback riding, playing trivia, flying helicopters, playing sports, and a whole lot else. So maybe she has too much spare time. Contact Ashley at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Lace and Lawsuits: The Scandalous World of Court Cases appeared first on Law Street.

The story of Belle Knox, the “Duke Porn Star,” broke a few weeks ago, and for a little while I tried to avoid writing about it, because there were a lot of voices already getting in on the debate. But then I saw that this bright young woman was receiving death threats, and that her classmates were trying to get her kicked out of Duke — and that was enough to push me over the edge.

Before I get into the specifics about why I wholeheartedly support Knox, I want to catch up any of you who have been living under a rock for the last few weeks. Belle Knox is a pornstar. She’s also an 19-year-old freshman at Duke University, majoring in sociology and gender studies. She got into porn because it was something that interested her, and as a way to pay for Duke’s extremely expensive tuition. She was outed by a classmate who recognized her, and quickly became the best worst-kept secret on campus. Then, The Chronicle, Duke’s student newspaper, did a profile on her using the pseudonym “Lauren.” As national news outlets got wind of the story, she wrote a few of her own pieces on xojane.com, including one where she published her porn alter-ego name, “Belle Knox.”

Since then, her face and real name, which I will not publish out of respect for her privacy, have been released. She’s gone on a few shows to defend her decision, despite the death threats and ire she and her family have both received. Knox has shared some of the more brutal ones, including:

• You should slit your wrists and die, you stupid bitch
• We are going to throw garbage at her every fucking day!!! let’s do it GREEK FRAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• The school should either expel her, or we will take matters into our own hands and make this fuck up suffer. cheers!
• FUCK YOU!!!! IF I SEE U WALKING ON CAMPUS I WILL KICK YOU IN THE FACE!

I, on the other hand, respect Knox deeply. And here are four reasons why the people who are making death threats to her need to go to hell themselves.

4. People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.

This is actually a point that Knox made herself in one of her XoJane pieces, “I’m Finally Revealing my Name and Face as the Duke Pornstar.” But I think it’s such an excellent point that I feel the need to expand on it. Knox pointed out that porn is a $13.3 billion industry each year in the United States. That’s more than the revenue of ABC, NBC, and CBS combined. While estimates vary due to a lack of desire to self-report, a $13.3 billion industry doesn’t become that way because only a few people are partaking. I’d bet you 50 bucks that at least a few of those people sending death threats to Belle Knox have watched porn at some point in their lives.

There is a huge double standard here, because how in the world do the people who are sending Knox these death threats think that porn is made? They want to watch it, but they don’t want to have a porn star next door. They want to enjoy the industry without actually acknowledging how it’s made. They want to pretend that the women they drool over don’t exist, because that’s easier than acknowledging that they’re someone’s daughter or sister or friend. It’s easier than acknowledging that they’re, god forbid, intelligent, autonomous, real human beings.

3. This was Knox’s private decision.

You might argue with me on this one. You might say that because she made the choice to partake in such a public industry, that it was no longer a private decision. But she made an alter ego for a reason. She made an alter ego because she, like anyone else, is still entitled to a private life. And when her real birth name was outed, she lost that ability.

But most importantly, her family also lost their privacy. Her family, at the very least, deserves the ability to live out their lives privately.

Why a woman turns to porn is her own decision. Now Belle Knox has been forthcoming about her reasons because she’s been asked. She explained that she does it because she likes it, because she feels empowered by her work, and because she wanted to pay for her education. She has already shared her reasoning with the public, and that was her choice. But some commenters are telling her that that reasoning isn’t good enough, like the ladies of The View:

It’s one thing to out her and demand that she explain why she wants to a be a porn star, even though that is her private decision. But to tell her that her reasoning isn’t good enough, and demand that she further justify her private decision is ridiculous.

2. There’s a bigger conversation here and that’s the exorbitant price of college tuition. 

Belle Knox is right — $60,000 is ridiculous. Most families cannot afford to send their daughter to school for $60,000. Now critics say that if she couldn’t afford it, then she shouldn’t have gone to Duke. She should have gone to a cheaper state school. But even state schools are getting up there. Average student loan debt is $29,000. About 12 million students each year take out money to finance their college education.

And Duke is an excellent school. She deserves to be there if she got in. We as a society cannot accept the fact that the only people who deserve to go to good schools are the ones who can pay for it.

Belle Knox could have chosen a different way to pay for her education, sure. She could have taken out loans or done other work. And I don’t think she made the right choice, but it was hers to make. And mostly I think the fact that a woman would even turn to porn because her tuition is so high is much more interesting than the porn itself. That should never be a choice that a young woman who wants to get an education has to make.

1. People are saying that Belle Knox is anti-Feminist. 

What’s pissing me off the most is the way that so-called feminists are treating Belle Knox. Now there are a lot of arguments out there about exactly what being a feminist means, and who is a feminist. Now is neither the time nor the place for any of that, but I think we can all agree on the fact that feminism is not and has never been one size fits all.

So to all the people out there who are saying Belle Knox isn’t a feminist…who gave you that right? Who gave you the right to define what feminism means to her. She feels empowered by what she is doing. She is a strong, well-spoken, incredibly intelligent young woman. She can tell you what makes her feel empowered. She can make that judgment call for herself. No one gave you the right to decide what empowers her. 

So carry on, Belle Knox. And be careful. Because there are a lot of people who want to take you out. But I can assure you, they’re all dead wrong.

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Anneliese Mahoney (@AMahoney8672) is Lead Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

Image courtesy of [Alan via Flickr]

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post 4 Reasons I Support Belle Knox, the “Duke Porn Star” appeared first on Law Street.