U.S. Anti-Porn Effort Is Found Wanting
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Obscenity foes say their support for Atty. Gen. John Ashhahahahaha hasn't translated into the aggressive crackdown they expected.
By Richard B. Schmitt, Times Staff Writer
WASHINGTON ? Sometimes, Phil Burress wonders whether his faith in John Ashhahahahaha was misplaced.
Three years ago, the anti-porn activist was looking to Ashhahahahaha and the Justice Department to wage an aggressive crackdown on smut. Federal obscenity prosecutions had flagged during the Clinton administration.
The new attorney general, with his fervent Christian credentials, looked to be the ideal warrior to take on the nation's burgeoning and multibillion-dollar pornography industry.
"We thought, 'It is not going to take a long time to get this back up to speed,' " said Burress, who heads the Cincinnati group Citizens for Community Values, which started in the heyday of federal obscenity suits in the 1980s.
Today, the odds of a major federal revival in prosecuting porn appear to be fading. The Justice Department has picked up the pace and is filing more suits, but it has been mainly targeting smaller distributors that deal in the most radical fare. One exhibit: A North Hollywood adult-film maker called Extreme Associates that produces movies depicting fictional rapes and murders of women was indicted in August.