Religious leaders met with AG Gonzales yesterday: prosecute PORNO!

[Bluebear]

To: National Desk

Contact: Francesca Jensen, Interim Director of Communications for the National Coalition for the Protection of Children & Families, 513-521-6227, ext. 111

CINCINNATI, July 14 /Christian Wire Service/ -- Dr. Jerry Kirk, founder and chairman of the National Coalition for the Protection of Children & Families, and Rick Schatz, president and CEO of the organization, met with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on July 13.

The meeting, requested by the National Coalition and the Religious Alliance Against Pornography, also included representatives from RAAP, the National Law Center for Children & Families, Long Island Citizens for Community Values and Citizens for Community Values in Cincinnati.

Kirk and Schatz met with Attorney General Gonzales to offer encouragement and discuss the role of the U.S. Department of Justice in prosecuting illegal pornography.

"The National Coalition realizes the task of controlling the distribution of illegal material is a daunting one, but we are confident the Department of Justice will do its best under Gonzales' leadership," said Schatz.

The meeting focused on the National Coalition's five key concerns regarding obscenity:

-- The development of a strong task force focusing on obscenity with experienced prosecutors and an adequate number of lawyers and support staff;

-- A broad-based effort to prosecute pornographers who are distributing obscene materials over the Internet, satellite and cable TV and in hotels;

-- A commitment to prosecute all illegal pornography;

-- The development of systems that will help protect those under the age of 18 from receiving pornographic material over all distribution mediums; and

-- The development of a team of experts to regulate new technologies such as PDAs, iPods and cell phones used to distribute pornographic materials.

"We know the Attorney General will make obscenity prosecution a priority," Schatz added. "We are very encouraged by the Attorney General's commitment to enforce the law and defend the interests of our country, families and children."

http://www.earnedmedia.org/ncpcf0714.htm

[trotsky]

1. Well, it's not like we still have an anthrax killer still on the loose...

so I guess we have the resources to crack down on dirty pictures.

[Bluebear]

6. Indeed! n/t

[bejammin075]

2. Guess lying us into war is not a moral problem

How do these fuckheads prioritize? We're fighting a war because of the tenacity of bush's lies, more than 100,000 are dead due to our bombs and tax dollars and soldiers.

they better supply these investigators with plenty of tissue.

[warrens]

3. Illegal or legal pornography?

These bastards are trying to say all porn is illegal. CHILD porn is illegal, as is porn with bestiality and so on. And if they think they're going to keep porn out of the hands of teenagers, they must have never been teenagers.

[mongo]

7. Well, that's a tough question

Under Federal law, and 40 states ANY explicit movie is chargable as "obscenity". I can be arrested for ANY movie in my inventory.

Many states outlaw the sale of "adult novelties" (dildos and vibrators) too.

But - we don't have prior restraint of free speech in America. They can't ban the filming of an act outright (unless it is the filming of a crime, as in child porn).

So, in order for a movie to be actually obscene and therefore illegal, a jury has to apply the Miller test:

Miller test
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The Miller test is the United States Supreme Court's test for determining whether speech or expression can be labelled obscene, in which case it is not protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and can be prohibited.

The Miller test was developed in the 1973 case Miller v. California. It has three parts:

* Whether the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest,
* Whether the work depicts/describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by applicable state law,
* Whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.

The third condition is also known as the SLAPS test. The work is considered obscene only if all three conditions are satisfied.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miller_test

Most places getting a conviction is a crapshoot and costly for the prosecution, so they don't bother. But it is why you don't find a lot of adult outlets in Utah.

On Edit: I sould state that it is perfectly LEGAL for you to own pornography - even if it is "obscene". It is only illegal for me to sell it to you. Go figure on that one for a while.

[sadiesworld]

4. Ooh, hotels like Marriott and Hilton?????

:popcorn:

[musette_sf]

5. "HBO pays for the porn!"

"Why do you waste?"

- Larry David's manager Jeff, in hotel lobby at checkout (scene from LD HBO special)

[mongo]

8. You'd think they might wait for the appeals court decision

in the Extreme Associates case, since the judge in Federal District court ruled that obscenity laws were an illegal intrusion into our privacy, and therefore unconstitutional.

But if you thought that - you'd be wrong.

It's going to be an interesting ride.