Posted on 08/11/2003 1:04:58 PM PDT by Selmo
(CNSNews.com) - Cultural conservatives are cheering the federal obscenity prosecution of a Los Angeles pornography distributor and two of its executives while pointing out that it is the first such indictment of an L.A.-based pornography firm in a decade. Most of the adult film industry is based in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley.
The 10-count indictment originates from a federal grand jury in Western Pennsylvania and names Extreme Associates, Inc., of North Hollywood, as well as the husband-and-wife team of Robert Zickari and Janet Romano of Northridge, Calif.
Extreme Associates' website touts its content as the "Hardest Hardcore on the Web." The indictment is based in Pennsylvania because that is allegedly a location where Extreme Associates mailed three of its videos.
Anti-pornography groups such as Morality in Media hailed the indictment as an encouraging sign after what the group criticized as an unofficial 10-year moratorium on obscenity prosecutions.
Obscenity laws were vigorously enforced between 1987 and 1993, Morality in Media stated in a press release, but prosecutions were almost non-existent during the Clinton administration and the first two years of the current Bush administration.
U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan, who is prosecuting the case in Pennsylvania, told CNSNews.com: "There has been very little enforcement of the federal obscenity laws in the last 10 years."
With this indictment, however, "the pornography industry is now on notice that the Justice Department is now taking steps to enforce federal obscenity laws," Buchanan said.
U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, who upon taking over the Justice Department in 2001 signaled that he would revive the Justice Department's anti-pornography efforts, released a statement following the indictment of Extreme Associates.
"Today's indictment marks an important step in the Department of Justice's strategy for attacking the proliferation of adult obscenity," Ashcroft stated.
"The Justice Department will continue to focus our efforts on targeted obscenity prosecutions that will deter others from producing and distributing obscene material. I congratulate the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, the U.S. Postal Inspectors and our other partners whose hard work and dedication made these charges possible."
Patrick McGrath, spokesman for Morality in Media, told CNSNews.com that while it might have taken a "little bit longer than perhaps we would have liked" for the Justice Department to begin prosecuting pornographers, the indictment is an encouraging sign.
"We see it as what we hope is the proverbial first step in a journey of a thousand miles," he said. "We know that there are other cases in the works, and we just think that this is what we hope is the first of many obscenity prosecutions."
Neither spokesmen for Extreme Associates nor the individual defendants could be reached for comment before this story was published.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Kaufman and Damon King of the Justice Department's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section will join Buchanan in prosecuting the case.
"The lack of enforcement of federal obscenity laws during the 1990s has led to a proliferation of obscenity throughout the United States, such as the violent and degrading material charged in this case," Buchanan said in a statement.
"Distributors of obscenity may be prosecuted under federal law in any district in the country where their products are sold."
Extreme Associates apparently came under investigation as a result of an episode of PBS's Frontline television series. The episode, which aired Feb. 7, 2002, showed the filming of one of the company's pornographic videos entitled Forced Entry.
In an interview with Frontline, defendant and Extreme Associates co-owner Janet Romano (alias "Lizzie Borden") described the video as follows: "A girl being kidnapped, being forced to have sex against her will, being degraded...then being butchered at the end and spit on. She's being degraded."
Forced Entry is one of the movies named in the indictment. The video and two other allegedly obscene films were mailed to a Western Pennsylvania address under Buchanan's jurisdiction, according to prosecutors.
Buchanan described the videos as containing "extremely violent and degrading sexual acts involving women" and noted that the movies did not just portray normal sexual acts.
"I would not have brought this case if I didn't strongly believe that it violated federal obscenity laws and more than met the three-part test set forth by the Supreme Court in Miller vs. California," she added.
The U.S. Supreme Court decided in 1973 that materials are obscene if they (1) appeal to the prurient interest, (2) are patently offensive, and (3) lack serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value in the view of an average, reasonable person applying contemporary community standards.
According to Buchanan, Zickari and Romano face a maximum sentence of 50 years in prison, a fine of $2.5 million or both, and their company faces a maximum fine of $5 million and a 50-year probation sentence, if they are convicted. The Justice Department is also seeking forfeiture of all property involved in the alleged crimes.
McGrath said he rejects the idea, advanced by some, that obscenity violations are "victimless crimes." Rather, he believes pornography is addictive and can lead to serious social problems.
"Marriages get destroyed. Children get a warped view of sexuality. And, among other things, pedophiles use adult porn to desensitize their child victims. They don't just use child pornography to entice the children - they use adult pornography. So there are many kinds of victims out there," McGrath said.
Furthermore, McGrath added, pornography can trigger a pattern of destructive behavior. He referred to the work of Dr. Victor Klein, an expert in drug and porn addiction.
"There's a four-step process: first you get addicted; the second step is escalation - you need more rough, more explicit, more deviant to get the same high; the third step is desensitization - you begin to see this stuff as normal; and then the last stage is acting out sexually," McGrath explained. "He's seen it in clinical situations time and time again, so there are consequences, and it's not merely a private, in-the-bedroom matter."
"We see it as what we hope is the proverbial first step in a journey of a thousand miles,"
Yeah, it will take a few more years for total government control of all media.
Should be just in time for President Hillary to take credit for it.
I can see why this one tripped some peoples triggers. Some sick, nasty stuff.
Talk about misplaced priorities !
Yes, he cared so much about 'the children' that he wouldn't even go after those who abuse them....
I can see why this one tripped some peoples triggers. Some sick, nasty stuff.
'Tis nothing worse than hundreds of B-grade horror movies that have been released over the years. Or horror novels. Or video games. Or comic books. Or.....
It's gross stuff but it's not real. Kinda like Cher's body.
Videos never hurt people. People hurt people.
A person can watch hour after hour of "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" but I'm pretty confident it won't make them gay.
I can watch queers and it won't turn me queer. Of course in my case, I guess that would be Ellen and Rosie. This is a different phenomenom. This is violent sex. Some people will get a trigger reaction towards the visual presentation of such.
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