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Should any part(s) of this law be found legally invalid, the remaining part(s) remain valid, if consistent with the overall intent of this law.
Most laws have a provision that invites courts to uphold some parts of the law even if it finds other parts of it invalid. The Indianapolis Ordinance was particularly careful to permit a reviewing court to uphold the law against actual presentations of a woman being subordinated, even if other parts of the law were invalidated.
Complaints under this law must be filed within six years of the discriminatory acts alleged.
Abuse through pornography often occurs over a long period of time, ending only when the victim can find the resources or means or self-respect to escape. The impact of the abusive process, coupled with the fact that the society protects and defends the abuser and ignores and stigmatizes the abused, undermines the victim's sense of personal efficacy, trust, belief in political action, and faith in the legal process. By the time individuals recover sufficiently to act, the time period within which they must complain before the injury expires has long elapsed. Discrimination laws customarily allow a disgracefully and uniquely short several-month period within which to complain. The six-year period provided by the Ordinance is more like the usual period allowed for personal injuries the law takes seriously. The time period would start to run from the last date the injury was done, except when it was argued that there was a good reason to start it later-for example, because the victim was a child when the abuse ended, or because an adult victim remained under duress or threat although the forced pornographic performances had ended.
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