The Long Hard Road Out of Hell

boyfriend—played a composite of Paul and several other lawyers who worked on the Hustler case.) Despite the fact that the story was on the news every five minutes, I’m not sure the crowd knew or even cared there was a case. We smashed everything, including ourselves, out of frustration at their apathy. I ended up slashing myself pretty badly, and paramedics won’t stitch ybu on the spot for insurance reasons. They wanted me to go to the hospital, but I stayed backstage and got drunk with Pantera. We talked about the first time I hung out with Dimebag Darrell, who in addition to playing guitar in Pantera is actually the creator of Tony Wiggins. He took Twiggy, Pogo and me back to his house in Dallas. After visiting a series of strip bars and doing other things that people who have rebel flag bumper stickers would do, I vaguely remember someone putting acid in my mouth and waking up in a litter box trying to keep a pig from shitting on my face.

    C URRENTLY BEFORE THE C OURT IS AN APPLICATION TO ENJOIN THE N EW J ERSEY S PORTS E XHIBITION A UTHORITY (“NJSEA”) FROM PRESENTING THE O ZZ F EST C ONCERT, WHICH INCLUDES PERFORMER “M ARILYN M ANSON ,” FROM BEING HELD AT G IANTS S TADIUM ON J UNE 15, 1997. M ARILYN M ANSON IS A HEAVY METAL BAND THAT THE NJSEA HAS DEEMED OBJECTIONABLE . M ARILYN M ANSON’S RIGHT OF PASSAGE TO PERFORM AT G IANTS S TADIUM IS NOW IMPEDED BY ROADBLOCKS CREATED BY THE COLLISION BETWEEN WELL-ESTABLISHED CONSTITUTIONAL AND CONTRACTUAL PRINCIPLES....
    O N A PRIL 18, 1997, THE NJSEA ISSUED A NEWS RELEASE ENTITLED “S TATEMENT OF THE N EW J ERSEY S PORTS A UTHORITY M ANAGEMENT REGARDING M ARILYN M ANSON AND THE O ZZFEST C ONCERT .” T HE ANNOUNCEMENT INDICATED THAT M ARILYN M ANSON WOULD BE PROHIBITED FROM PERFORMING AT G IANTS S TADIUM AND CANCELED THE O ZZFEST EVENT DUE TO THE INCLUSION OF M ARILYN M ANSON ....
    T HE NSJEA HAS INDICATED THAT IT EXCLUDED M ARILYN M ANSON FROM THE CONCERT BECAUSE OF THE BAND’S “ANTICS .” A CCORDING TO THE NSJEA, THESE ANTICIPATED “ANTICS” MAY [CREATE] SECURITY RISKS AND MAY [TARNISH] THE NSJEA’ S REPUTATION AND ABILITY TO REMAIN A LUCRATIVE FORUM FOR CONCERT EVENTS....
    T HE CLAUSE ON WHICH THE NSJEA RELIES FOR ITS AUTHORITY TO EXCLUDE M ARILYN M ANSON FROM THE SHOW CONFIRMS THE MOTIVATION OF THE NSJEA U NDER THE NSJEA’ S PROPOSED CONTRACT, IT MAY EXCLUDE A PERFORMER FOR: “GROUNDS OF CHARACTER OFFENSIVE TO PUBLIC MORALS, FAILURE TO UPHOLD EVENT ADVERTISING CLAIMS OR VIOLATION OF EVENT CONTENT RESTRICTIONS AGREED TO BY BOTH PARTIES AT TIME OF COMPLETION OF THIS AGREEMENT .” T HE ONLY ASPECT OF THIS CLAUSE THAT THE NSJEA RELIES UPON IS THAT M ARILYN M ANSON’S PERFORMANCE IS ANTICIPATED TO BE “OFFENSIVE TO PUBLIC MORALS .” T HIS APPEARS TO BE THE QUINTESSENTIAL ESSENCE OF CONTENT BASED REGULATION .
    T HE NSJEA HAS ARGUED THAT SAFETY CONCERNS PROMPTED ITS REFUSAL TO ALLOW M ARILYN M ANSON TO PLAY AT G IANTS S TADIUM . B UT THE NSJEA HAS PUT FORTH NO EVIDENCE THAT ITS PROFFERED SAFETY CONCERNS ARE LEGITIMATE RATHER THAN PRETEXTUAL . T O THE CONTRARY, NO UNLAWFUL OR VIOLENT ACTIVITY HAS OCCURRED ON M ARILYN M ANSON’S CURRENT TOUR . A ND IT APPEARS THAT THE PLAINTIFFS HAVE COMPLIED WITH NSJEA’ S REQUESTS FOR CONCESSIONS INTENDED TO BOLSTER SECURITY ....
    T HE NSJEA ALSO ARGUED THAT THE INCLUSION OF M ARILYN M ANSON WOULD TARNISH NSJEA’ S REPUTATION AND ABILITY TO EARN REVENUE . B UT, THE NSJEA CONCEDED AT ORAL ARGUMENT THAT THE DECISION TO EXCLUDE M ARILYN M ANSON WAS NOT BASED ON THE ECONOMICS OF THE SHOW IN QUESTION; THE SHOW WAS ANTICIPATED TO EARN SUBSTANTIAL REVENUE . R ATHER , NSJEA ARGUED THAT THE INCLUSION OF M ARILYN M ANSON WOULD SOMEHOW AFFECT NSJEA’ S FUTURE ABILITY TO USE THE STADIUM . T HE NSJEA’ S ARGUMENT IS INSUFFICIENTLY CONCRETE TO BE PERSUASIVE AND THERE ARE NO WRITTEN GUIDELINES DEFINING WHAT MIGHT ENDANGER NSJEA’ S REPUTATION . C ONSEQUENTLY, THE C OURT IS NOT PERSUADED .
    A DDITIONALLY, IT APPEARS THAT THE NSJEA’ S REQUIREMENT THAT ALL PERFORMERS SIGN A CONTRACT ALLOWING THE NSJEA TO REGULATE THE MORALITY OF CONCERT PROGRAMS MAY BE AN UNREASONABLE RESTRICTION ON ACCESS TO EVEN A NON-PUBLIC FORUM ....
    I T APPEARS PATENTLY UNREASONABLE THAT G IANTS S TADIUM WOULD PERMIT AN ENTIRE CONCERT OF HEAVY METAL BANDS, WHILE EXCLUDING ONLY ONE —M ARILYN M ANSON — WHICH HAS DEMONSTRATED NO PROPENSITY FOR ILLEGAL