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In recent years, the U.S. Department of Justice has paid only lip service to the enforcement of federal obscenity laws. In some instances, DOJ has gone after child pornographers and -- in a scant few cases -- has prosecuted purveyors of the most obscene and graphic adult pornography. But unfortunately, the government has been largely AWOL when it comes to enforcing an entire section of U.S. law, 18 U.S.C. 1460-1470, which criminalizes much of the adult hard-core pornography that has saturated both the Internet and our communities.

Although obscenity enforcement has not been a priority for the DOJ, it is a priority for most of the American people. A 2004 Wirthlin Worldwide opinion poll found that more than four out of five Americans want existing Internet obscenity laws vigorously enforced. To help illustrate that reality, Concerned Women for America is preparing to send the Justice Department more than 16,000 signed petitions that firmly but respectfully demand our nation's obscenity laws be properly enforced.

The courts have held that there can be constitutional coexistence between federal obscenity laws, which criminalize certain hard-core pornography, and the First Amendment. The U.S. Supreme Court held in Miller v. California, 413 U.S. 15 (1973), that obscene material is "unprotected by the First Amendment" (413 U.S. at 23) and that obscenity laws can be enforced against "hard-core pornography" (413 U.S. at 28).

Yet law enforcement officials at the local, state and federal levels have chosen to sit back and do almost nothing while the pornography epidemic hits critical mass. Like a sexually transmitted cyber-disease, it widely infects men, women and even children.

Due to the instant availability of such obscenity and the lack of enforcement against it, there are, no doubt, many good people reading this article right now who know someone, love someone or have themselves been ensnared by this public pestilence. And, like a drug dealer doling out crack cocaine to his hopelessly addicted prey, those who produce and distribute this smut are getting away with societal murder.

Many say pornography is victimless, but we know that's a lie. It is extremely destructive to all parties involved. It reduces women and even children to mere sex objects and destroys individuals, families and communities.

Adult pornography creates a trap that is difficult to escape. It entices viewers to consume more and more smut and to delve deeper and deeper into more graphic and obscene material.

During a 2004 hearing held by the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Science, Technology and Space, several experts testified as to the highly addictive nature of pornography. Those experts further testified that regular consumption of adult pornography can breed sex offenders who prey on women and children. It provides a gateway to child pornography and eventually to child sexual assault.

Regrettably, our federal government's lack of enforcement has sent a clear signal -- whether right or wrong -- to smut peddlers and sexual predators: The government is a paper tiger. There are no real consequences for violating obscenity laws and abusing women and children.

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