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Who is in bed with the porn industry?
The latest generation of Internet pornographers has found a strange ally in Clinton's Justice Department. The number of new hardcore video titles to hit the market annually has more than quadrupled since Clinton took office according to the porn industry itself. And what has the Justice Department done while ever more degenerate forms of illegal pornography invade our homes and our lives? They just turn and look the other way.
"President Bill Clinton and Attorney General Janet Reno are proving to be the best friends the hardcore, illegal porn industry ever had," said Robert Peters, President of Morality in Media, a non-profit organization that has fought obscenity since 1962. The porn industry agrees.
"President Clinton is a total supporter of the [porn video] industry and he's always been on our team," said David Schlesinger of Vivid Video, quoted in the Sept. 28, 1998 TV Guide. "It's not that Clinton has been outwardly supportive of the adult industry, but rather that he hasn't tried to quash it the way Republicans did back in the 1980s."
And Kat Sunlove, Lobbyist for the Free Speech Coalition a pornography advocacy group, said in the March 2000 Adult Video News, "How likely is it, would you say, that we are going to enjoy the same benevolent neglect that the industry has enjoyed under Janet Reno?"
"The Justice Department's own data indicate that the level of federal obscenity law enforcement dropped more than 80% during the first six fiscal years of the Clinton administration," said Peters.
The explosion of the Internet has done much to fuel the proliferation of hardcore illegal pornography. The online porn industry brought in $1.5 billion in 1999 according to Forbes (April 10, 2000). Although all pornography is disgusting, much of it pushes the limits of comprehensible evil. Larry Flynt's opinion? "Some of the stuff out there, I mean, I wouldn't even publish it." (Quoted in U.S. News & World Report, 2/10/97) Is it possible that we have found the moral boundary of Larry Flynt, notorious publisher of Hustler magazine?
And yet the Justice Department remains silent. "Their inaction is especially frustrating because effective prosecution is one of the best ways to fight pornography," says Bruce Taylor, president of the National Law Center for Children and Families, and a leading obscenity prosecutor.
When Congress began asking question last year, they found a significant decline in prosecutions since the Bush administration.
In fact, Taylor says that many of the Justice Department's "obscenity" cases are actually child porn cases that are plea-bargained down to adult obscenity. And adult obscenity convictions carry much lighter penalties than child porn convictions.
Bob Flores, Vice President and Senior Counsel of the National Law Center for Children and Families, says that the Justice Department has yet to prosecute a single case of substance against this industry. In addition there have been zero prosecutions against the XXX dot coms for distributing illegal hardcore adult pornography over the Internet.
Under the leadership of Congressmen Billy Tauzin (R-3rd/LA) and Steve Largent (R-1st/OK), the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications, Trade, and Consumer Protection held a hearing on May 23, 2000 to confront the Justice Department with these facts. The response was simple--we are under funded, we don't have the resources to prosecute. But ironically there is no lack of "resources" to prosecute everything from tobacco to Elin to Microsoft.
In response, Congressman Largent has introduced HR 4710, a bill that would authorize $5 million earmarked to the Justice Department for specifically prosecuting obscenity. The bill is scheduled for a vote this week. Call your Representative and urge him or her to vote for this bill if you think illegal pornography should be prosecuted. (House switchboard: 202-224-3121)
But prosecution is not the only problem. According to Bruce Taylor, the Justice Department has to do a better job in defending challenges to federal laws in court. It was embarrassing that the Justice Department lobbied against COPA while Congress was considering it, saying that it would be unconstitutional. Most recently, the ACLU won a preliminary injunction to prevent enforcement of the Child Online Protection Act in federal court, which would have made it illegal for online pornographers to knowingly provide porn to children. Now that the COPA case is going to a final trial, the Justice Department should call the most knowledgeable Internet experts in the world to dispute the witnesses of the ACLU, and win a big one for our children.
According to Patrick McGrath, Director of Media Relations for Morality in Media, the next presidential administration will have a tough job fighting the porn industry back into submission. "The other guys have enormous capital on their side," he said. He cited everything from plenty of cash to a friendly media and Hollywood who are working hard to mainstream much of the porn industry's work.
Both the Gore and Bush campaigns have expressed their intent to enforce the federal obscenity laws.
But how committed is Gore to enforcement considering his bosses record? Clinton has talked the talk, but he has not walked the walk.
In 1992, Clinton wrote a letter to Morality in Media saying, "Like most parents, Hillary and I are concerned about the effects of exposure to violence, explicit sex, and mixed moral messages on America's children-themes all too often depicted on television, on films, and in printBe assured that aggressive enforcement of federal obscenity laws-particularly by the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section [of the Justice Department]-will be a priority in a Clinton-Gore administration."
The Internet will certainly play a large role in the legacy of Bill Clinton. Unfortunately this legacy is marred by the reality of an out of control illegal pornography industry.
Rich Shipe was the founding editor of the HomeSchool Channel on crosswalk.com. He is now working as the managing editor of the upcoming Crosswalk.com Youth Channel.
If you would like information on how you can protect yourself and family check out crosswalk.com's Internet Safety resource area. In this area you can also learn more about Bill Parker's (Crosswalk.com, CEO) involvement as a commissioner on the Child Online Protection Act Commission.
Please prayerfully consider financially supporting one or all of these groups who are at the frontline of fighting pornography:
National Law Center for Children and Families http://www.nationallawcenter.org/
3819 Plaza Dr.
Fairfax, VA 22030-2512
(703) 691-4626
National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families http://www.nationalcoaltion.org
800 Compton Road, Suite 9224
Cincinnati, OH 45231
(513) 521-6227
Morality in Media http://www.moralityinmedia.org
475 Riverside Dr.
New York, NY 10115
212-870-3222
Community Defense Counsel http://www.communitydefense.org
11000 N. Scottsdale Road, Suite 144
Scottsdale, AZ 85254
(480) 922-9731
Family Research Council
801 G Street NW
Washington, DC 20001
(202) 393-2100
"President Bill Clinton and Attorney General Janet Reno are proving to be the best friends the hardcore, illegal porn industry ever had," said Robert Peters, President of Morality in Media, a non-profit organization that has fought obscenity since 1962. The porn industry agrees.
"President Clinton is a total supporter of the [porn video] industry and he's always been on our team," said David Schlesinger of Vivid Video, quoted in the Sept. 28, 1998 TV Guide. "It's not that Clinton has been outwardly supportive of the adult industry, but rather that he hasn't tried to quash it the way Republicans did back in the 1980s."
And Kat Sunlove, Lobbyist for the Free Speech Coalition a pornography advocacy group, said in the March 2000 Adult Video News, "How likely is it, would you say, that we are going to enjoy the same benevolent neglect that the industry has enjoyed under Janet Reno?"
"The Justice Department's own data indicate that the level of federal obscenity law enforcement dropped more than 80% during the first six fiscal years of the Clinton administration," said Peters.
The explosion of the Internet has done much to fuel the proliferation of hardcore illegal pornography. The online porn industry brought in $1.5 billion in 1999 according to Forbes (April 10, 2000). Although all pornography is disgusting, much of it pushes the limits of comprehensible evil. Larry Flynt's opinion? "Some of the stuff out there, I mean, I wouldn't even publish it." (Quoted in U.S. News & World Report, 2/10/97) Is it possible that we have found the moral boundary of Larry Flynt, notorious publisher of Hustler magazine?
And yet the Justice Department remains silent. "Their inaction is especially frustrating because effective prosecution is one of the best ways to fight pornography," says Bruce Taylor, president of the National Law Center for Children and Families, and a leading obscenity prosecutor.
When Congress began asking question last year, they found a significant decline in prosecutions since the Bush administration.
In fact, Taylor says that many of the Justice Department's "obscenity" cases are actually child porn cases that are plea-bargained down to adult obscenity. And adult obscenity convictions carry much lighter penalties than child porn convictions.
Bob Flores, Vice President and Senior Counsel of the National Law Center for Children and Families, says that the Justice Department has yet to prosecute a single case of substance against this industry. In addition there have been zero prosecutions against the XXX dot coms for distributing illegal hardcore adult pornography over the Internet.
Under the leadership of Congressmen Billy Tauzin (R-3rd/LA) and Steve Largent (R-1st/OK), the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications, Trade, and Consumer Protection held a hearing on May 23, 2000 to confront the Justice Department with these facts. The response was simple--we are under funded, we don't have the resources to prosecute. But ironically there is no lack of "resources" to prosecute everything from tobacco to Elin to Microsoft.
In response, Congressman Largent has introduced HR 4710, a bill that would authorize $5 million earmarked to the Justice Department for specifically prosecuting obscenity. The bill is scheduled for a vote this week. Call your Representative and urge him or her to vote for this bill if you think illegal pornography should be prosecuted. (House switchboard: 202-224-3121)
But prosecution is not the only problem. According to Bruce Taylor, the Justice Department has to do a better job in defending challenges to federal laws in court. It was embarrassing that the Justice Department lobbied against COPA while Congress was considering it, saying that it would be unconstitutional. Most recently, the ACLU won a preliminary injunction to prevent enforcement of the Child Online Protection Act in federal court, which would have made it illegal for online pornographers to knowingly provide porn to children. Now that the COPA case is going to a final trial, the Justice Department should call the most knowledgeable Internet experts in the world to dispute the witnesses of the ACLU, and win a big one for our children.
According to Patrick McGrath, Director of Media Relations for Morality in Media, the next presidential administration will have a tough job fighting the porn industry back into submission. "The other guys have enormous capital on their side," he said. He cited everything from plenty of cash to a friendly media and Hollywood who are working hard to mainstream much of the porn industry's work.
Both the Gore and Bush campaigns have expressed their intent to enforce the federal obscenity laws.
But how committed is Gore to enforcement considering his bosses record? Clinton has talked the talk, but he has not walked the walk.
In 1992, Clinton wrote a letter to Morality in Media saying, "Like most parents, Hillary and I are concerned about the effects of exposure to violence, explicit sex, and mixed moral messages on America's children-themes all too often depicted on television, on films, and in printBe assured that aggressive enforcement of federal obscenity laws-particularly by the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section [of the Justice Department]-will be a priority in a Clinton-Gore administration."
The Internet will certainly play a large role in the legacy of Bill Clinton. Unfortunately this legacy is marred by the reality of an out of control illegal pornography industry.
Rich Shipe was the founding editor of the HomeSchool Channel on crosswalk.com. He is now working as the managing editor of the upcoming Crosswalk.com Youth Channel.
If you would like information on how you can protect yourself and family check out crosswalk.com's Internet Safety resource area. In this area you can also learn more about Bill Parker's (Crosswalk.com, CEO) involvement as a commissioner on the Child Online Protection Act Commission.
Please prayerfully consider financially supporting one or all of these groups who are at the frontline of fighting pornography:
National Law Center for Children and Families http://www.nationallawcenter.org/
3819 Plaza Dr.
Fairfax, VA 22030-2512
(703) 691-4626
National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families http://www.nationalcoaltion.org
800 Compton Road, Suite 9224
Cincinnati, OH 45231
(513) 521-6227
Morality in Media http://www.moralityinmedia.org
475 Riverside Dr.
New York, NY 10115
212-870-3222
Community Defense Counsel http://www.communitydefense.org
11000 N. Scottsdale Road, Suite 144
Scottsdale, AZ 85254
(480) 922-9731
Family Research Council
801 G Street NW
Washington, DC 20001
(202) 393-2100
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