For more than a year, David Mech — formerly known as porn star and director Dave Pounder — has been tussling with the Palm Beach County School Board. In federal court, the Boca Raton resident charged that the district wrongly yanked down banners advertising his math tutoring business because some parents voiced concerns over his old adult-oriented line of work. Last week, however, a federal judge delivered a harsh blow that will likely ground Mech’s legal claims.

Mech’s lawsuit against the school board claimed the removal of the signs constituted a violation of his First Amendment right to free speech, his Fourteenth Amendment right to due process and equal protection, and a breach of contract.

In an order issued last week, U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra disagreed, dismissing Mech’s federal claims. “[The school] did not remove Plaintiff’s banners because of the expression contained therein,” Marra wrote. “Rather, it removed the banners for a reason unrelated to Plaintiff’s speech — the known association of Plaintiff’s tutoring business with his adult media business.”

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