Posted on 02/28/2005 5:31:01 PM PST by bayourod
WASHINGTON — Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said today he would move aggressively to prosecute obscenity cases, and he laid out a broader agenda much like that of his predecessor, John Ashcroft.
In his first lengthy address since becoming attorney general in early February, Gonzales said people who distribute obscene materials do not enjoy constitutional guarantees of free speech.
"I am committed to prosecuting these crimes aggressively," he said to a Washington meeting of the California-based Hoover Institution.
The Justice Department is appealing the dismissal of an obscenity case in Pittsburgh in which a federal judge said prosecutors went too far in trying to block the sale of pornographic movies over the Internet and through the mail. The case initially was prosecuted under Ashcroft.
Gonzales, the son of Mexican immigrants, said the Justice Department also would continue its recent stepped-up activity in human trafficking investigations and prosecutions. "Its victims are usually aliens, many of them women and children who are smuggled into our country and held in bondage," he said.
The Justice Department also is sending teams of federal agents to five more cities struggling with violent crime, Gonzales said, extending a program begun last year in 15 cities. Investigators focus on prosecuting people for firearms violations, which often accompany gang activity, illegal drug organizations and organized crime groups.
The cities are: Camden, N.J.; Fresno, Calif.; Hartford, Conn.; Houston and New Orleans.
Among other priorities Gonzales noted:
— Ending Senate blocking of judicial nominees, a "broken process that must be fixed" before there is a vacancy on the Supreme Court.
— Renewing provisions of the USA Patriot Act that are set to expire at the end of the year, saying the law has been an important tool in preventing terror attacks in the United States.
— Amending the Constitution to give crime victims the right to participate in prosecutions and sentencings.
Also today, the Justice Department announced that Christopher Wray, head of the criminal division since June 2003, was resigning.
Wray is the first high-ranking official to leave since Gonzales took over as attorney general. No replacement has been named.
"The Justice Department is appealing the dismissal of an obscenity case in Pittsburgh in which a federal judge said prosecutors went too far in trying to block the sale of pornographic movies over the Internet and through the mail. ""
Who here thinks that pornography should be illegal?
Did I miss us winning the war on terror?
I don't care about pornography. I have CD players and cassette players, but I haven't been able to buy one of those pornographs to play that pornography stuff.
An old saying comes to mind, "You Reap what you sow", things are going to get much worse methinks.
I certainly don't think so. I don't have any use for it myself, and think it is low-class and degrading--but to each his own.
Gonzales is an anti Second Amendment guy--and he scares me on gun issues. That is my big problem with him--as I said often when Freepers seemed to be so taken with him.
Oh well--done is done--we'll just have to see what happens.
Never mind the guy over there with the bazooka I think grandma is smuggling an extra roll out of old country buffet.
What the hell kind of a Republican is Gonzales? I don't like him at all. He's also pro choice,
I think it already is legal. Aren't a lot of major companies involved in it?
Me .
You must be joking! Someone who uses language such as POS and F Them getting upset about porn?
Basically, POSs, including pornographers.
So obsenity is OK as long as you or those you support are the ones generating it and wrong if people you do not like do it.
I fail to see why people should be put in prison for having sex in front of a camera.
I take it -- based on your tolerance or encouragement of pornography -- that you're not a Bible-following Christian? I also infer from your message you're not a real perfectionist on spelling?
"You get the government you deserve" is what I was thinking.
There's also one that goes something like.. the only thing worse than... I dunno, something about all the government we pay for now.
Which is too much, as this article will attest to.
We've got open borders, we're still fighting the War On Terror, and we're trying to deal with all of the flagrant government violations of our Constitution, and these clowns want to throw people like Ron Jeremy & Tommy Chong in jail? Give me a frickin break.
First, spelling flames show you are reaching for straws. Second who are you to judge what type of Christian I am?
You joined a week ago to come on here and advocate a liberal treatment of pornography?
You are a very fast reader if you where able to take in and analyzie my entire posting history in such a short amount of time.
Quite a few long time posters on this site find nothing wrong with porn, are they liberal also?
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