NEW ATTORNEY GENERAL VOWS TO PROSECUTE OBSCENITY

U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez, in his first lengthy address since coming to the office in early February, sounded a voice of reason on the issue of obscenity vowing to prosecute those who violate our nation's laws. In an Associated Press story that broke February 28, Gonzalez said, "I am committed to prosecuting these crimes aggressively." The statement was made during a meeting at the Hoover Institution, a public policy think tank based at Stanford University.

Gonzalez said that he would unveil a broad agenda to aggressively prosecute obscenity much like his predecessor, John Ashcroft, intended to do. The U.S. Department of Justice has already filed an appeal in the dismissal of an obscenity case in Pennsylvania that was originally filed under Ashcroft's watch. The judge dismissed the case stating that federal obscenity laws violate the right to privacy expanded by the Lawrence decision. If this decision is allowed to stand, it could severely cripple the nation's obscenity law.

The National Coalition for the Protection of Children & Families recently sent a letter to Attorney General Gonzalez encouraging him to take a bold stand for families and a decent society by aggressively enforcing federal obscenity laws. We are encouraged by his pronouncement and look forward to seeing this plan in action over the next few months and years under his watch.