Federal adult obscenity prosecutions virtually nonexistent
Jason Krause has a lengthy article in the February ABA Journal titled: The End of the Net Porn Wars: Despite big talk, federal efforts against adult obscenity online have withered. ADF attorney Patrick Trueman is quoted throughout:
. . . most argue that the number of prosecutions is too small to have any effect. When the government prosecuted mainstream pornography producers and distributors in the ’80s and early ’90s, prosecutors rarely lost.
“I firmly believe that we need a variety of obscenity prosecutions,” says Trueman. “These are small fries they’ve gone after. I’d rather see a prosecution of a company with a big distribution system.”
Prosecutors seem to have very little appetite for following through on these initiatives. When Alex Acosta, the interim U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, assigned pornography cases to his prosecutors, members of his staff complained to the Associated Press in 2005, saying they were “stunned” that resources were being used for obscenity cases.
“If you talk to prosecutors on the front lines, they’ve got fraud, gang activity, organized crime and drug cartels to contend with. Nobody wants resources redirected to dirty movies,” says DeWitt. “Whoever gets that assignment is the laughingstock of the department.”
. . . according to the U.S. District Court in ACLU v. Gonzales, there have been less than 10 prosecutions for obscenity since 2005.
In fact, the DOJ as a whole shows no appetite for taking on the issue. The conservative religious organization Concerned Women for America polled every U.S. attorney’s office to find out what they planned to do about obscenity. Except for a handful of offices that didn’t return calls, not one said it had any inclination to pursue anything other than child obscenity cases.
4 Comments
The smart and methodic secular crowd have done a good job erasing our morals in this country. Oh what a wonderfully pornagraphic and smut filled future we have!
We prefer bandaids and litigation in America instead of personal accountability and moral restraint. If we protect and promote healthy families, we will eventually enjoy a healthier and prosperous society again. God forbid we do that though. What would we do with all the lawyers and pharmaceutical co’s, and prisons we’ve built?
I think we’re never going to get pornography eradicated because of “rights” but we may get it limited. It’s a proven fact that like alcohol, drugs, and tobacco, it is addictive. Addictions lead to bad results both to the person and to society.
There should be ways to LIMIT the amount of pornography, alcohol, drugs, tobacco that a person is allowed to purchase, and in the case of pornography….to view as well.
LIMITATION is the key, I believe.
We have to stop being just disgusted and start getting informed, voting and generally making it known that this is not going to fly. The census that was taken a few months ago said that 88% of Americans go to church & 44% go every week. Why is 88% of the population loosing their rights and religious freedoms to 12% because we only complain in our own circles. We comand 88% of the money in the united states why aren’t we using it. Companies who openly rebutt anything deemed pure moral or Christian (for example: Target) and donate heavily to promote pornography-homosexuality and abortion rights should not get one dime of our money. Actors and musicians with no sign of morals at all are rich because we or our children paid to see their movie or buy their CD. STOP! Put your money where your mouth is, donate your money and your time to worthy causes. There is always a rally, walk or vigil going on somewhere. Go to this website and find your legislature and send him or her an email http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/yourleg.html