THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Thursday, January 2, 1997             TAG: 9701020070
SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A9   EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Briefs 
DATELINE: NEW YORK                          LENGTH:   22 lines

PENTHOUSE CHALLENGES BAN ON MILITARY BASES

Banning magazines like Penthouse from U.S. military bases unconstitutionally discriminates against material that simply promotes healthy attitudes about sex, a lawyer told a federal judge.

Lawyers for General Media Communications Inc., publisher of Penthouse, are asking a federal judge to make permanent an order barring enforcement of the new federal ban. The law, supposed to have taken effect Dec. 22, allows the Defense Department to ban materials whose ``dominant theme . . . depicts nudity in a lascivious way.'' U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin had granted a temporary restraining order last month.

KEYWORDS: PENTHOUSE MAGAZINE ADULT MAGAZINE U.S. MILITARY

BASES BAN