Groups concerned about trafficking, sexual exploitation sign letter
Cheryl Wetzstein
January 27, 2015
The Washington Times
After waiting in vain for six years for federal action to enforce obscenity laws, anti-pornography activists are eager to hear what attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch plans to do.
“It is our hope that Loretta Lynch will aggressively prioritize and uphold the federal obscenity (hardcore pornography) laws that Attorney General Eric Holder ignored during his six-year tenure,” said Patrick Trueman, president of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, formerly known as Morality in Media.
Ms. Lynch is scheduled to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.
Mr. Trueman’s organization, plus more than 100 other leaders and groups, signed a letter to senators, including Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, Iowa Republican.
The letter asks the senators to receive Ms. Lynch’s “commitment to faithfully and vigorously enforce federal adult obscenity laws.”
U.S. anti-obscenity laws prohibit distribution of hard-core pornography on the Internet, on cable and satellite TV, on hotel and motel TV, in retail shops, through the mail, and by common carriers such as UPS or FedEx, said the letter.
The U.S. Supreme Court has “repeatedly upheld” these laws when challenged on First Amendment rights, it said.
However, during the Holder years, “not one new obscenity case has been initiated against commercial distributors of hardcore adult pornography,” the letter said.
Signatories include Alan Sears, president of Alliance Defending Freedom; Donna Rice Hughes, president and chief executive of Enough is Enough; Penny Nance, president and chief executive of Concerned Women for America; Laura J. Lederer, president of the Global Centurion Foundation Inc.; and Lawrence D. Jacobs, managing director of the World Congress of Families.
