AP : Gonzales Seeks to Reinstate Obscenity Case

[jefferson_dem]

Gonzales Seeks to Reinstate Obscenity Case

By MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration said Wednesday it would seek to reinstate an indictment against a California pornography company that was charged with violating federal obscenity laws. It was Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' first public decision on a legal matter.


Billed as the government's first big obscenity case in a decade, the 10-count indictment against Extreme Associates Inc. and its owners, Robert Zicari, and his wife, Janet Romano, both of Northridge, Calif., was dismissed last month by U.S. District Judge Gary Lancaster of Pittsburgh.


Lancaster ruled prosecutors overstepped their bounds while trying to block the company's hard-core movies from children and from adults who did not want to see such material.


The Justice Department (news - web sites) said it will appeal the ruling to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (news - web sites) in Philadelphia. While acknowledging the importance of the constitutional guarantee of free speech, Gonzales said selling or distributing obscene materials does not fall within First Amendment protections.

<SNIP>

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=544&u=/ap/20050216/ap_on_go_pr_wh/obscenity_appeal&printer=1

[librechik]

1. sure beats getting a real job

and it's hard to figure how he will justify torture in this case... but I'm sure he will try!

[saigon68]

41. Another Extremist Right Wing WHACK JOB

I love it how The Bush Criminals find these minority wannabee cracker white men extremists-- Hell some of them are women like KINDASLEEZY RICE.

[plcdude]

2. another waste

of time, money, and personnel.

[siliconefreak]

3. gotta pander to the right-wing nuts

This is simply more red meat to throw to the lions in the red states.

[jefferson_dem]

11. Yup. A bone toss to the rabid rapture right...just in case

in case they ever doubted his conservative mettle.

The first case! Hail Geeezus!

Wonder what's lurking in HIS "closet"!

[Mike Niendorff]

37. yep, more ass-covering with their "Christian" backers.

They won't give them Roe v. Wade, so they're throwing them a bone here instead. I guess they presume that as long as the fundies are getting *something*, they won't much care what it is (and what it isn't). And the sad thing is, they're probably right. As long as they get somebody's scalp on their wall, I doubt they'll much care whose it is.


MDN

[NYC]

4. So, we've convicted all the terrorists involved in 9/11?

Gonzales is looking for "busy work" now?

[Cocoa]

6. first he tackles peyote

now it's pornography.

[RC]

9. Nope...

bu$h, rummy, cheney, etc. are still at large.

He just needed something to do while ignoring th obvious.

[spunky]

5. What is it about Republicans and bestiality?

If allowed to stand, Lancaster's ruling would undermine obscenity laws as well as other statutes based on shared views of public morality, including laws against prostitution, bestiality and bigamy, the department said in a statement.

Thats what they said about same-sex marriage too: If homosexuals are allowed to marry the next thing you know, we'll allow bestiality.

What is it with the bestiality all the time?! :crazy:

[opihimoimoi]

7. Suppressed Urges perhaps??

[geniph]

15. Half of them are indistinguishable from sheep?

(with the remainder being sharks)

[despairing optimist]

17. No wonder they want to let ranchers slaughter those wild horses

Coverup in the works.

[snippy]

24. As I understand it, a certain republican Senator has urges to engage in

Senator on dog sex. Because of this the Senator and the rest of the republican party assume that everyone has similar urges.

[AndyTiedye]

28. I Thought He Did Turtles

I hope they're snapping turtles. :evilgrin:

[Tempest]

8. Oh, the irony

On the same day Rumsfeld announced the threat of terrorist attacks against the U.S. is up, the DOJ announces their priority is pornography.

And the Bush supporters believe the U.S. is safer.

Unbelieveable.

[SpiralHawk]

10. They must have the movie rights to "The Jeff Gannon Story"

The public must be protected from such vile obscenity.

[Walt Starr]

12. I've said it before and I'll say it again

Before the next four years are over, we'll be longing to have Ashcroft back as AG.

[PurityOfEssence]

19. That was a rotten thing to say

You're right, of course; I just hadn't heard you say it before.

The big differences are these: whereas Ashcroft was of mediocre intelligence at best and buffeted by supernatural delusions, he was narcissistic and nuttier than the proverbial fruitcake. This guy's much smarter, specifically evil and a hardcore moralist to boot; he's much more dangerous because he's much more rational and competent.

The commoners who ascend to power with the monied elites come in two basic flavors: greedy, merciless button-men (think Kerik or Bormann) and the driven, mean ideologues (think Robespierre and Torture Boy).

Sadly, our best hope is that they overreach...

[hugo black]

22. Just so we're clear...

Is he evil, or a moralist? I don't like the guy but he can't be both, right?

[nolabels]

39. Yea, overreach..............

Rational, moral and competent too


http://antiwar.com/news/?articleid=2504

Last time I checked it was illegal to treat animals this way let alone humans

[geniph]

13. This is the most important case he could find to prosecute?

Is there no substantive business for the Attorney General's office to be conducting? GAWD.

[Canuckistanian]

14. And the baton is passed from Ashcroft to Gonzales

Wait, that's not a baton....

[MadLinguist]

16. Abu Gharib Snuff Films available to security level Double-Oh Fuckwad

personnel.

[PurityOfEssence]

18. Shouldn't he be looking for hookers in New Orleans?

Geez. They've gotta be there somewhere...

So, Abu Gonzalez is going to be the new Church Lady, huh?

He just conjures that old Lenny Bruce line of being "one of the card carrying members of the great legion of the unlaid." Great. More tight-assed moralistic warmongers, just what the world needs.

[mmonk]

20. Tell him torture is obscene

[kohodog]

21. Yeah, I thought his first move would be to reinstate torture.

[LinuxInsurgent]

23. and the horses are off...

boy...these RepubliNazis don't wait a second before advancing their "moral values" agenda, don't they?

Geesh...

[snippy]

25. Maybe the defendants refused to hire his stepson.

Until he abruptly quit last month - around the time that President Bush nominated his stepfather, White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales, to be U.S. attorney general - Web designer Jared Freeze worked as a consultant for notorious pornographer Larry Flynt.

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/260719p-223200c.html

[MasonJar]

26. Oh, let's approve torture, but demand an end to porn.

[The_Casual_Observer]

27. In an era of grave terror warnings and "suitcase nuke" threats

proffered daily by the media, this is the best that this whiny voiced idiot can do?

[Solly Mack]

29. oh look, it's torture boy

[VegasWolf]

30. What is this wierd shit between the bush admin and sex? n/t

[Ilsa]

31. Hey if they are going to prosecute, they have to view the materials...

That will be their excuse when the spouses find them enjoying, I mean watching, porn.

[ucmike]

32. and yet, with all the moral outrage, porn makes billions

seems to me that the public (psst...that's us), at least a big part of it, wants porn. in fact, they (by "they" i mean "we') spend tons of money on. strange, considering how strictly moral we all claim to be.

i'm glad the priorities are in order.

good thing the guys in charge at abu gharib made those videos overseas, otherwise they would've gotten in trouble.

[DU GrovelBot]

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[Erika]

35. Obscenity is how Bush treats our poor & needy

Gonzales won't file a suit on that.

[tinkerbellnorth]

34. Red Vs Blue

Who buys the most porn???

[siliconefreak]

36. I know the answer to this

Porn sells the most in the areas where it's most accepted: big, liberal cities. Nothing wrong with that.

Of course, conservatives buy porn too, but in general, the more politically liberal you are, the more likely you are to look favorably on sexual freedoms of all kinds, from adult entertainment to doing it "doggie style" in your own bedroom. ;)

[fob]

38. Hey Abu Gonzalez, I hear there's hookers in New Orleans too.

What a joke.

[killbotfactory]

40. Is al Qaeda making hardcore porn?

Why the fuck does he care?

[Supersedeas]

42. Albert Gonzo's attack on the Bill of Rights begins

[Marnieworld]

43. Gee, aren't there some elderly cancer patients smoking pot somewhere?

What is he gonna do about that menace to society?

[renaissanceguy]

44. These folks need to get LAID.

Just because they're too repugnant and uptight to get any, doesn't mean that they have to ruin it for the rest of us. What's next, outlawing masturbation?


http://www.cafepress.com/liberalissues/507794

[xxqqqzme]

45. probably afterall

'every sperm is sacred'!