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.
That's why it was very encouraging to hear Michael Mukasey, the new U.S. attorney general, declare during his confirmation hearings that he, too, is concerned about the proliferation of such illegal and obscene material.
In a Nov. 9, 2007, letter to Mukasey, Wendy Wright of CWA and several other leaders in the fight against obscenity — including Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, Alan Sears of the Alliance Defense Fund and Pat Trueman, former chief of Child Exploitation and Obscenity for the Justice Department — requested a meeting with the attorney general to discuss this rapidly growing pornography epidemic. He has not yet replied, and with less than a year left in the current administration, it is imperative that he soon does.
Attorney General Mukasey is now in the unique position to reverse the ever-increasing tide of illicit obscenity. He has been given both a momentous opportunity and a grave responsibility. It is up to him to quash this epidemic at its source.
The days of looking the other way are over. It's high time the welfare of families and children takes a greater priority within the Department of Justice than in previous years.
The American people have spoken. The pornography plague on our culture can no longer be ignored. Federal obscenity laws are already on the books; they need only be enforced.
General Mukasey, you have publicly indicated a willingness to take on this affront to decency, for which we are very grateful. Now it just needs to be done.
Do it because it's right. Do it because the law demands it. Do it for our children. But, please, sir, for whatever reason — just do it.