Alabama – from www.al.com – The Alabama Supreme Court today again upheld the state’s ban on the sale of sex toys like those at the Hoover store Love Stuff.

The court, still divided 7-2, again ruled that the 1988 law prohibiting the sale of sex toys does not violate the U.S. and Alabama constitutions.

Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb and Justice Thomas Woodall continued their dissent to the majority opinion by Justice Mike Bolin [pictured].

Friday’s ruling stemmed from a request by a lawyer for Love Stuff for the state high court to reconsider a similar ruling in September.

The court majority continued to recognize that people may have the right to use these devices in private, but the state has the right to regulate their public sale.

“Public morality can still serve as a legitimate rational basis for regulating commercial activity, which is not a private activity,” Bolin wrote for the court majority. “As the (11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals) … stated, ‘There is nothing private or consensual about the advertising and sale of a dildo,'”

Amy Herring, a lawyer for the Love Stuff store, said her clients were considering an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“It’s an economic consideration,” she said. “I need to discuss it with my client and see what they want to do.”

An exception to the 1988 state law allows sales of devices used for medical, scientific, educational and other purposes.

Love Stuff has remained open, but requires customers purchasing devices to sign a document saying the purchase complies with state law.