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Home – Family and Marriage News – Obscenity Is Still Illegal—It’s Time to Enforce Laws Against Pornography

Obscenity Is Still Illegal—It’s Time to Enforce Laws Against Pornography

Scott Yenor | Caleb Pirc

The internet delivers an endless stream of hardcore pornography into American homes and pockets through laptops and mobile phones.

Porn once confined to seedy bookstores is now ubiquitous, free, and increasingly violent. Most youngsters, especially boys, encounter hardcore pornography before they can drive. Marriages strain under its influence. The sexual dance is compromised by suspicion and confusion.

There is a growing perception that this cultural contagion is legally untouchable. That perception is wrong.

General obscenity remains illegal under state and federal statutes. The real barrier to confronting the widespread pornography is not legal barriers—it is a lack of will and nerve to enforce the law. A new Heritage Foundation Backgrounder, “Is General Obscenity Still Illegal? A Postmortem on the Bush Obscenity Prosecution Task Force,” examines the last serious federal effort to deal with the scourge of pornography and charts a path forward.

Created in 2005 under President George W. Bush, the Obscenity Prosecution Task Force (OPTF) marked the last national push to prosecute general, hardcore obscenity. Led by Director Brent Ward, a small team secured convictions in every case that reached conclusion—including high-profile wins against producers of obscene material like Rob Black (Extreme Associates), Max Hardcore, and others.

The team of prosecutors wielded the record-keeping requirements of 18 U.S.C. section 2257 against a company called Girls Gone Wild, immediately prompting widespread industry compliance and deterring the use of children in pornography production. Every jury convicted defendants.

‘UNEVEN PLAYING........

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