Falwell Loses; Virginians Can Read Penthouse

LYNCHBURG, Va., Feb. 2, 1981 -- A federal judge in Virginia today refused the request of television evangelist Jerry Falwell that he permanently block distribution of an interview with Falwell appearing in the March issue of Penthouse, a magazine known for its full-color photographic displays of nude women.

U.S. District Judge James Turk, turning aside claims by Falwell, head of the conservative Moral Majority, that the interview was obtained through deception and would cause him irreparable harm in the eyes of his followers, ruled that the interests of the magazine's 10 million readers far outweigh those of Falwell.

"The scales tip decidedly in favor of the public," Turk said.

Turk, who blocked distribution of the magazine temporarily last Friday, noted this morning that expiration of that order at 1:30 p.m. today would give Falwell time to appeal the ruling to a federal appeals court in Richmond if he desired. Falwell declined.

A spokesman for Penthouse, Rich Jachetti, said company officials were delighted with the ruling. "We never had any doubts," he said. "We knew we could depend on the basic constitutional law of the land to rule in our favor." c

Publicity resulting from the suit, Jachetti said, "could only help increase sales. I don't think we ever expected this interview to make the media splash that it has. I think we can thank Rev. Falwell for that."

Falwell said today he will pursue his $10 million suit against the magazine, which has a national circulation of about five million. Jachetti said Penthouse plans to counter Falwell's civil action with a suit of its own.

In Los Angeles, British journalist Andrew Duncan, one of two authors of the disputed interview, also threatened to sue Falwell for remarks attributed to the preacher since the suit was filed. Duncan said there were no condition placed on the use of his interview with Falwell, a point Falwell disputed on the witness stand here today.

"When conditions are made, I'll stick to them," Duncan said. "I interviewed the Shah shortly before he left Iran. I could have made a fortune off of that. But he stipulated that it could only be used for the book I was working on."

Duncan said Falwell "knew [the interview] was being done for a book and that the book was being excerpted to any number of places."

Today's hearing was marked by verbal sparring inside the courtroom and later outside between Falwell, head of the 18,000-member Thomas Road Baptist Church here and a nationally syndicated gospel program, and Penthouse's New York attorney, Roy Grutman.

After the hearing, Grutman responded to a question from Falwell with the biblical quotation, "Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make ye free [John 8:32]."