Washington, D.C – from www.yahoo.com – Members from both parties in the U.S. House of Representatives are lobbying for stronger prosecution of obscene pornography offenses.

On Feb. 9, Reps J. Randy Forbes (R – VA, pictured) and Mike McIntyre (D – NC) sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder asking for aggressive pursuit of hardcore pornography purveyors using obscenity laws.

Forbes and McIntyre remind Holder that when he was Deputy Attorney General in 1998, he directed attorneys to enforce obscenity laws. They also point out:

– Since pornography has become more accessible, it has become more dangerous.

– Hardcore pornography encouraging sexual harassment and sexual violence.

– Hardcore porn encourages adult sex with children, leading to the growing connection between pornography and human trafficking.

– The next issue of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual will refer to pornography as an addictive disorder.

– They reference a website, www.pornographyharms.com, for sound statistics.

– Porn purveyors and advocates insist that First Amendment freedom of speech safeguards their activities. Forbes and McIntyre state there are obscenity laws in existence which make prosecution possible.

What is “obscene”? Therein lays the problem:

In today’s moral climate, the definition of “obscenity” is in the eyes of beholders and decision makers. Hollywood’s and porn purveyors’ constant pushing of the envelope with the FCC does a good job of desensitizing people as to what’s “obscene.” Investigators and prosecutors have been unable to convince juries, judges and federal officials of something being “too obscene.”

In 2005, 10 obscenity charges were dropped against defendants in a federal court on the basis that obscenity laws are unconstitutional.

In United States v Extreme Associates, U.S. District Court Judge Gary Lancaster ruled: “We find that the federal obscenity statutes place a burden on the exercise of the fundamental rights of liberty, privacy and speech.”

This case set a heinous precedent, considering the fact that the war on human trafficking is like another drug war — we know it’s there, it’s increasing, but we can’t seem to stop it.

While the government acknowledges the necessity for a war on drugs and human trafficking, they don’t see the need for a war on pornography.