May 6, 2005 | Sex & Society

Obscenity crackdown intensifies

US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales appears to be making good on his pledge to increase obscenity prosecutions, according to the Associated Press which reports that the Justice Department will soon announce the creation of a special unit within its criminal division which will focus specifically on adult obscenity cases.

According to Andrew Oosterbaan, chief of the Justice Department�s child exploitation and obscenity section, 40 people and businesses have been convicted of breaking federal obscenity laws since 2001; 20 additional indictments are pending. By comparison, there were only four obscenity prosecutions during the eight years of the Clinton administration.

The Justice Department�s approach has been to identify videos that have extreme themes such as simulated rape and to bring charges in socially conservatives states, where a jury is more likely to find that they violate "community standards."

However a case against Extreme Associates was recently thrown out by U.S. District Judge Gary Lancaster, meaning that obscenity prosecutions - even against highly offensive content - are not guaranteed to succeed.

So far all efforts at restricting adult websites from operating have been rejected by the Supreme Court.
[Associated Press] [AVN]