Dr. James Dobson has stressed many times that the fight against pornography is a winnable war. Based on his experience with the U.S. Attorney General’s Commission on Pornography, Dr. Dobson believes our society can be free from illegal obscenity if concerned citizens take a stand.
This information sheet can help you organize and target your efforts where they will be the most effective
“. . . if My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” —2 Chronicles 7:14, NIV
Know the Issue
Pornography is a broad term that describes explicit material—magazines, videos, Web sites, photos, etc.—designed primarily to sexually arouse a person. There are two important legal classifications of pornography which are important to understand as you make your voice heard on this issue.
Obscene material
Obscene material—what the Supreme Court defines as hardcore pornography—is illegal and enjoys no First Amendment protection. The Supreme Court ruled that to be considered obscene,
(1) [A]n average person, applying contemporary community standards, must find that the material, as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest; (2) the material must depict or describe, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by applicable law; and (3) the material, taken as a whole, must lack serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.
The Court further defined what communities could consider obscene:
- Patently offensive representations or descriptions of ultimate sexual acts, normal or perverted, actual or simulated.
- Patently offensive representations or descriptions of masturbation, excretory functions, and lewd exhibition of the genitals.
These definitions of illegal material describe much of the pornography now being distributed and sold online and in adult bookstores. It already violates the law. The only problem is lack of enforcement!
Indecent material
Indecent material (to be understood in a legal, not a moral sense) is pornography that does not meet the definition of obscenity, and is legal in the United States with certain limitations. Neither obscene nor indecent pornography can be shown to minors. In many states indecent material is also prohibited from being displayed in public areas. Some states have been updating their laws to prohibit playing pornographic DVDs in cars.
On broadcast television and radio, obscenity is prohibited at all times. Indecency is also limited to times when children are not likely to be watching or listening. The Supreme Court has defined this “safe harbor” as existing between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) defines broadcast indecency as “language or material that, in context, depicts or describes, in terms patently offensive as measured by contemporary community standards for the broadcast medium, sexual or excretory organs or activities.”
It is important to note that these standards do not currently apply to cable television, but Congress has shown increasing interest in regulating cable content.
Get Organized
The task of cleaning up pornography at the national, state, or even local level can seem daunting or impossible. While one person can make a difference, working with others multiples each person’s individual efforts.
You can find like-minded individuals at church, home schooling groups, civic organizations or among your neighbors. Don’t try to tackle everything at once. Set one or two priorities and work at them until you achieve results. Then move on to the next most important objective.
Federal Efforts
Efforts at the federal level typically focus on three pressing issues: 1) the proliferation of obscenity, 2) the growth in broadcast indecency and 3) the disturbing increase in child pornography. Within these efforts, the focus centers on passing and enforcing good laws.
Addressing Obscenity
The Department of Justice is responsible for enforcing all federal obscenity laws. United States law prohibits transmitting, distributing, selling, or disseminating obscene material across state lines. This includes the mail system, TV and radio, telephones, the Internet, wireless devices, and obscene videos or DVDs that are shipped to stores from state to state.
Although Congress occasionally passes new laws, existing obscenity law is more than adequate to wage a vigorous and successful campaign against illegal hardcore pornography. Following the recommendations of Attorney General’s Commission on Pornography released in 1986, the Department of Justice conducted a very successful war against illegal hardcore pornography for several years in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Unfortunately, just as online pornography started to become a problem in the early 1990s, Attorney General Janet Reno under President Bill Clinton deemphasized obscenity prosecutions. The fight against obscenity never revived under President George W. Bush, leading to an explosion of extremely violent and degrading pornography online which is often accessed by children.
Reinvigorating federal obscenity prosecutions requires the active, sustained and vocal pressure of average Americans fed up with rampant proliferation of obscene material in society. Pressure must be applied to the White House, Department of Justice and to members of Congress.
Who to Contact and What to Request
A. Write to the president and recommend that he:
- Direct the Attorney General to focus obscenity enforcement efforts against large, mainstream obscenity producers and distributors in order to cripple the industry, rather than focusing on small-time operators selling only the worst of the worst material.
- Appoint U.S. attorneys who will wage a vigorous battle against child pornography, obscenity and indecency laws in their federal districts, and will not allow these crimes to go unpunished.
The correct address, salutation and closing are:
The President Dear Mr. President:
The White House
Washington, DC 20500 Very respectfully yours,
B. Contact the U.S. Justice Department to:
- Register complaints about specific pornographic businesses or Web sites.
- Encourage the investigation of “white-collar” pornographers, such as satellite providers and hotel chains that offer in-room pay-per-view pornography. You do not need to make investigating the part of the industry most responsible for the mainstreaming of pornography.
U.S. Justice Department
Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001
(202) 353-1555
www.usdoj.gov
Email: askdoj@usdoj.gov
You may also write the Justice Department if you receive unsolicited pornographic material in the mail. Then go to your post office and complete form 1500 to be put on a list of people who do not want to receive sexually explicit material in the mail.
You can also file obscenity complaints at www.obscenitycrimes.org.
C. Contact your U.S. senators and representatives and encourage them to:
- Hold the Justice Department accountable for enforcing the nation’s obscenity laws.
- Hold hearings to determine the harm of pornography to individuals, families, and society.
The correct salutations and closings are:
Senators
The Honorable … Dear Senator:
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510 Sincerely yours,
Representatives
The Honorable … Dear Representative:
House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515 Sincerely yours,
For up-to-date information on pornography legislation in Congress or to locate contact information for your congressman, visit the CitizenLink Action Center.
Addressing Broadcast Indecency
Current law prohibits broadcasting indecent material on TV or the radio between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. Until recently, this law was rarely enforced against TV programs. There have been occasional fines against radio stations for several years.
In 2005 President Bush appointed Kevin Martin as Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). In that capacity, Chairman Martin added an online indecency report form, put in place procedures for investigating complaints and has demanded that complaints be handled within a specified period of time. He made the FCC more responsive to consumer complaints than ever before. These changes should remain under any new Chairman, affording citizens a real opportunity to petition the government to clean up TV and radio.
Write to the FCC and ask for prompt enforcement of the laws against indecency and obscenity in radio and television. Your complaint must be of a specific nature, and you should include the date, time, channel and nature of the offensive material.
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street S.W.
Washington, DC 20554
(888) CALL-FCC
www.fcc.gov
Email: fccinfo@fcc.gov
You can also use the FCC’s online report form for broadcast indecency complaints: http://www.fcc.gov/eb/oip/Compl.html
Addressing Child Pornography
Due to the destructive and harmful nature of this material, which might be more accurately considered a visual record of child sexual abuse, even possession of child pornography violates federal law. Accordingly, citizens are not allowed to seek out or research this material, even with the purpose of helping law enforcement.
In recent years, the United States has stepped up its enforcement of federal child pornography laws and strengthened international treaties to facilitate greater global cooperation on investigation and prosecution.
The federal government has joined with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to provide a way for citizens to report violations of child pornography laws. To make a report, visit www.missingkids.org.
State and Local Efforts
Some of the greatest impact citizens can have is in their own communities. At the local level, people often have greater access to their elected leaders and can often find more like-minded citizens who share their concerns. Similar to efforts at the federal level, state and local efforts often focus on passing and enforcing good laws and ordinances, but often community pressure can achieve significant results apart from passing more laws.
Passing Good Laws
One of the greatest dangers to a community is having a sexually-oriented business (SOB) move into town, especially near schools, churches, or neighborhoods where children live and play. Although the Supreme Court has ruled that an SOB has the right to exist—provided it doesn’t violate other laws—the Court has also ruled that communities can pass ordinances restricting where it can locate, what hours it can open, and regulating what type of conduct is allowed within the business.
These ordinances can be strict, but must be flexible enough to allow a business to actually set up shop. However, if a town has a strong ordinance, it is likely that an SOB will locate in another town where the rules aren’t strict or don’t exist at all.
To help your town set up an SOB ordinance, gather necessary research, such as land use studies, that show the negative secondary effects of adult business. You can find these at
http://www.communitydefense.org/cdcdocs/landuse/pdf/nlc_summaries.pdf
You can also request help from Scott Bergthold, considered by many to be the country’s foremost attorney dealing with adult business law.
Law Office of Scott D. Bergthold, P.L.L.C.
Jordan Executive Building
6830 McCutcheon Road
Chattanooga, TN 37421
423.899.3025 Office
423.899.3029 Fax
www.adultbusinesslaw.com
Enforcing Existing Laws
Phil Burress, President of Citizen for Community Values in Ohio, says three ingredients are necessary for a community to clean up pornography: 1) active and concerned citizens, 2) a police force willing to investigate obscenity crime, and 3) a district attorney or local prosecutor willing to take violations to trial.
The most important ingredient is the work of an active and concerned citizenry. If the local community isn’t concerned about illegal pornography, it is unlikely the police force or prosecutor will be either. Active citizens can also work together to put into office police chiefs and prosecutors who are willing to take these types of cases if the current office holders are unwilling to do their jobs.
Contacting the Local District Attorney
The name and phone number for your area’s district attorney should be listed in your phone directory under the section entitled “Government Listings.” In some communities, the district attorney is also known as the solicitor general or commonwealth attorney. Local libraries also have this information.
Do not call or go to the district attorney’s office on your own. Instead, go with a group from your church, a coalition of churches or other private citizens. District attorneys understand that calls for action from groups translate into votes and greater political pressure.
Send the most committed, articulate and recognizable members of your group to speak with the district attorney. These folks should be prepared to make specific charges about obscenity law violations, including the name and address of the violator. If you only have time to send a letter, express support for efforts to enforce obscenity and indecency laws in your state. You may also file a complaint about a specific X-rated theater, bookstore or video rental store’s violation.
Citizen Pressure
Sometimes cultural polluters in the community are not breaking laws, but cause problems nonetheless. This can include video rental stores with adult films in the general sections or on lower shelves so children can see them, sexually-explicit magazines in the supermarket check-out aisle, sexually-explicit displays at the local mall or gas station, and billboards for sexually-oriented businesses.
Efforts to curtail these abuses involve getting organized with like-minded folks, contacting the manager of the offending establishment, possibly contacting the organization’s national headquarters, gathering petitions, picketing, contacting local news media, and other initiatives to generate awareness and apply pressure for the business to change its policy.
Don’t discount the positive effect these types of clean-up operations can have. Even exposure to this type of sexually-explicit material can lead to tremendous harm to young children. Plus, by cleaning up these “less noxious” offenders, you will have a better chance of convincing a jury what your community standards are when an obscenity case goes to trial.
Online Resources
Citizenlink.com: CitizenLink is a family advocacy organization that inspires men and women to live out biblical citizenship that transforms culture. As an affiliate of Focus on the Family, we provide resources – such as our website, news services, voter guides and calls to action – that equip citizens to make their voices heard on critical social policy issues involving the sanctity of human life, the preservation of religious liberties and the well-being of the family as the building block of society.
Pureintimacy.org: Pure Intimacy is an online ministry of Focus on the Family that addresses the pain of pornography and sexual brokenness and offers the hope of healing and restoration.. Our site is designed for parents, pastors, counselors and strugglers alike. We hope anyone pursuing God’s best in their life–or helping others do the same–will find Pure Intimacy’s guidance and help in the area of sexual redemption to be comforting and useful.
Standing for Truth (Citizen, April 2010): Several years ago, the Louisville region housed 175 sexually oriented businesses. Thanks to a coalition of concerned citizens — and a billboard campaign — that number has dropped by more than 100. This Citizen magazine article shows how you can clean up your town, too. http://www.citizenlink.com/2010/04/citizenlink-standing-for-truth-2/
Other Organizations
The following pro-family organizations provide educational resources, host local campaigns to eliminate pornography, recommend speakers for group events, organize boycotts of advertisers promoting pornographic material and, in general, work hard to help communities clean up the streets and airwaves. These organizations are primarily funded by private donations and need your support to continue their work.
American Decency Association
The mission of the American Decency Association is to educate its members and the general public on matters of decency; to initiate, promote, encourage and coordinate activity designed to safeguard and advance public morality consistent with biblical Christianity.
American Decency Association
P.O. Box 202
Fremont, MI 49412
(231) 924-4050
www.americandecency.org
Citizens for Community Values
CCV is a grassroots organization of citizens who are concerned for the well-being of the community, the strength of its families, and the future of its children.
Citizens for Community Values
11175 Reading Road, Suite 103
Cincinnati, Ohio 45241
Phone: (513) 733-5775
www.ccv.org
Enough Is Enough
Enough Is Enough is an advocacy organization whose mission is to make the Internet safer for children and families. The Web site contains great research and information on how to protect children from pornography and sexual predators online.
Enough Is Enough
746 Walker Road, Suite 116
Great Falls, VA 22066
(888)744-0004
www.enough.org
Morality in Media, Inc.
Morality in Media endeavors to make the public aware of the collapse of television decency standards. It publishes a helpful newsletter that reports on obscenity cases across the United States, and sponsors a yearly “White Ribbon Against Pornography” campaign.
Morality in Media
475 Riverside Drive
New York, NY 10115
(212) 870-3222
http://www.moralityinmedia.org/
ROCK
ROCK is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping local communities thrive by standing against sexually oriented businesses, the exploitation of women and children and the destructive impact of pornography and obscenity.
ROCK
1717 Alliant Drive, Suite 21A
Louisville, Kentucky 40299
Phone: (502) 297-9892
www.reclaimourculture.org
Daniel Weiss is the senior analyst for media and sexuality for CitizenLink, an affiliate of Focus on the Family.
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