# What US federal anti-porn laws are not being enforced? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 10, 2012, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-us-federal-anti-porn-laws-are-not-being-enforced/609063 "2012-01-10T18:28:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-us-federal-anti-porn-laws-are-not-being-enforced/609063/1 "2012-01-10T18:28:33Z")
[http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/6425818602.html](http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/6425818602.html) > [@](#): > > Three Top GOP 2012 Candidates Commit to Enforce Nation’s Pornography Laws > Current Administration Continues Allowing Pornographers to Break Laws I can find no reference what laws are being referenced here. Is hardcore porn already technically illegal, and just not enforced? Or is this just a matter of theocrat hopefuls getting the “porn bad! family good!” message out, and no laws are actually not being enforced? ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-us-federal-anti-porn-laws-are-not-being-enforced/609063/2 "2012-01-10T18:37:44Z")
It’s difficult for me to answer that question without knowing exactly which laws the “Morality in Media” organisation thinks are not being enforced. They may think that child porn is not being prosecuted vigorously enough. Maybe they think that Playboy magazine aught to be covered by existing laws, while the Feds don’t. (Ditto the racy Calvin Klein billboard ads. [link](http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/calvin-klein-billboard-secretly-curses-you-126890) ) ---
**Author:** ![dorsk188](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f05b48/32.png) [@dorsk188](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorsk188)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-us-federal-anti-porn-laws-are-not-being-enforced/609063/3 "2012-01-10T18:39:17Z")
I… don’t think so. I… I mean, my friends haven’t noticed any change from one administration to the next, so if Obama’s not enforcing laws, they’re either relatively insignificant laws, or no one enforces them. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-us-federal-anti-porn-laws-are-not-being-enforced/609063/4 "2012-01-10T18:57:17Z")
Laws regarding pornography are a hopeless muddle. Technically obscenity is still a crime in many jurisdictions. That raises the question of whether material shipped from one jurisdiction to another is subject to the definition of obscenity of both or neither or either one. The courts have ruled different ways at different times and the Supreme Court has not taken a clear stance on that issue or many others. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-us-federal-anti-porn-laws-are-not-being-enforced/609063/5 "2012-01-10T18:59:33Z")
The [wikipedia entry on obscenity](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obscenity) seems to have some good background on this issue. Basically it looks like the laws are pretty nebulous. So it is easy to imagine that much material that is readily available would be illegal under certain strict readings of the law. ---
**Author:** ![dorsk188](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f05b48/32.png) [@dorsk188](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorsk188)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-us-federal-anti-porn-laws-are-not-being-enforced/609063/6 "2012-01-10T19:08:15Z")
I know the internet has thrown obscenity law into a black hole. It used to be that you could regulate smut pretty easily through the physical businesses that sell it, but now there is a pipe going into virtually every home directly from the producers, and nearly all of it without any age verification of any substance. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-us-federal-anti-porn-laws-are-not-being-enforced/609063/7 "2012-01-10T19:31:20Z")
Probably talking about the Child Online Protection Act of 1998, which requires web sites to restrict children from having access to any “material that is harmful to minors”. The law was immediately challenged in court, was never enforced, and has been ruled unconstitutional. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-us-federal-anti-porn-laws-are-not-being-enforced/609063/8 "2012-01-10T19:41:14Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Probably talking about the Child Online Protection Act of 1998, which requires web sites to restrict children from having access to any “material that is harmful to minors”. The law was immediately challenged in court, was never enforced, and has been ruled unconstitutional. I hope they aren’t actually referencing a law that has been ruled unconstitutional… Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-us-federal-anti-porn-laws-are-not-being-enforced/609063/9 "2012-01-10T20:12:51Z")
And the appeals have gone all the way through the Supreme Court level so it’s not like it’s an open issue anymore. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-us-federal-anti-porn-laws-are-not-being-enforced/609063/10 "2012-01-10T21:45:41Z")
Weren’t there some high-profile prosecutions for obscenity during the Bush administration? I vaguely remember stories about porn producers who made movies involving fisting, coprophilia, and other “extra hardcore” activities getting prosecuted and imprisoned several years ago… ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-us-federal-anti-porn-laws-are-not-being-enforced/609063/11 "2012-01-10T22:14:24Z")
I’ve heard of internet producers of BDSM getting harassed, fined or jailed; sometimes according to the laws of some county on the other side of the country. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-us-federal-anti-porn-laws-are-not-being-enforced/609063/12 "2012-01-11T00:22:06Z")
On their web site, they claim: > [@](#): > > Existing obscenity laws, which have been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. make most available hardcore adult pornogrphy illegal int he UNited States. I find that hard to believe, no pun intended. Another gem from their web site: > [@](#): > > Close The Club On NBC - is an effort to make it unprofitable for NBC to exploit women and promote a pornified culture this fall with their new show “The Playboy CLub.” We launched the initial efffort to remove the show from the NBC lineup. We will work with other groups to contact NBC affiliate stations demanding that they cut the show (KSL in UTAH did this already). We will also target the show advertisers to stop ads during the show (we helped to do this successfuly with MTV show “Skins” in 2011). I think they see pornography under very bed, to use a 1950s metaphor. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-us-federal-anti-porn-laws-are-not-being-enforced/609063/13 "2012-01-11T01:17:35Z")
Well, they’re saying: > [@](#): > > The Obama Administration has turned a blind eye to the harm from pornography and has not initiated a single new federal obscenity prosecution since President Obama was inaugurated. In fact, they disbanded the task force organized to investigate and prosecute. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-us-federal-anti-porn-laws-are-not-being-enforced/609063/14 "2012-01-11T02:56:11Z")
[That part’s true.](http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0411/53314.html) ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-us-federal-anti-porn-laws-are-not-being-enforced/609063/15 "2012-01-11T03:37:40Z")
Well, I emailed them asking which laws they are talking about. I will of course post any response I get. ---
**Author:** ![brocks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@brocks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brocks)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-us-federal-anti-porn-laws-are-not-being-enforced/609063/16 "2012-01-11T22:05:18Z")
I’ll vote for anyone who promises to make shaved pussies illegal. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-us-federal-anti-porn-laws-are-not-being-enforced/609063/17 "2012-01-11T23:42:03Z")
> [@brocks](#): > > I’ll vote for anyone who promises to make shaved pussies illegal. Look, if you like makin’ out with Grizzly Adams, that’s cool. Some of us prefer a clean work area. Razor, cold, dead, hands, etc. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-us-federal-anti-porn-laws-are-not-being-enforced/609063/18 "2012-01-12T00:11:09Z")
Right, essentially they’re complaining that nobody’s starting federal obscenity cases against adult porn. Because, y’know, adult porn is such a dire threat… ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-us-federal-anti-porn-laws-are-not-being-enforced/609063/19 "2012-02-06T18:29:12Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > Well, I emailed them asking which laws they are talking about. I will of course post any response I get. No response, not surprisingly. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-us-federal-anti-porn-laws-are-not-being-enforced/609063/20 "2012-02-06T18:35:21Z")
> [@](#): > > The Obama Administration has turned a blind eye to the harm from pornography and has not initiated a single new federal obscenity prosecution since President Obama was inaugurated. He’s just biding his time until 2 Live Crew puts out a new album.