NORTHAMPTON, Massachusetts – Some people think that an anti-pornography group has gone beyond the call of duty in its quest to keep an adult-themed store from opening on King Street. Others think it’s gone over the top.

Now the Massachusetts attorney general’s office has sent the organization a letter saying that, in its view, NoPornNorthampton has stepped over the legal line by soliciting money for its cause.

Spokesman Terence O. Burke said yesterday that the attorney general’s office sent a letter on Tuesday to Adam Cohen and Jendi B. Reiter, the husband and wife team that comprises NoPornNorthampton, instructing them to register as a charity or stop soliciting donations.

The attorney general’s office took the action after its charitable division reviewed the organization’s Web site, Burke said. NoPornNorthampton also recently sent out a mass mailing to registered voters in Northampton and Longmeadow that included a donation envelope.

Reiter said yesterday that she has not yet received the letter but is willing to comply with the laws.

“We’re not actually a charity, so we didn’t think we needed to apply,” she said. “This is pretty new territory to us. We’re just two people trying to get involved in grass roots politics.”

She estimated that the mailing has brought in about $1,000 to date, including some donations from Longmeadow, which has been sent to a special account at Florence Savings Bank. The money would be used to defray NoPornNorthampton’s expenses, Reiter said.

A spokesman with the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s office said yesterday that Reiter and Cohen do not have to register as a political group, although their mailing states that the donations are for a political cause.

“There are hundreds of these groups throughout the commonwealth,” Kennedy said, adding that they have to register only if their work involves a specific election.

The mailing also contained an open letter to Longmeadow resident Barry G. Goldberg, who owns the building [pictured] at 135 King St. where Capital Video, a Rhode Island-based company, [owned by Kenny Guarino] plans to create a store that sells adult videos, magazines and sex toys.

The letter asks Goldberg and his wife to consider the effects that the material Capital plans to sell will have on the community. It goes on to describe the plots of several pornographic movies in detail.

“Yes! I’d like to support NoPornNorthampton,” the return envelope reads. “Since My contribution may be used for political purposes, I understand that it is not tax-deductible.”

There are then spaces allowing donors to give amounts ranging from $25 to $500 or other amounts. Advertisement

The mailing is only part of an effort by Cohen and Reiter to stop Capital Video and raise awareness of the issues surrounding pornography. Since Capital announced its plans last summer, Cohen and Reiter have created a Web site, organized public meetings on the topic, traveled to Maine to document the effects of another Capital store in Kittery, proposed ordinances to regulate pornographic businesses and handed out free NoPornNorthampton lawn signs. At a Planning Board meeting last week, Cohen submitted a six-inch thick study of the secondary effects of pornography done in New York City.

Since NoPornNorthampton began its campaign, Mayor Mary Clare Higgins and some city councilors have come up with three separate zoning amendments to regulate different aspects of adult-themed businesses in Northampton.

Two have already been voted into law and the other, which would limit the display area for adult material to 1,000 feet in most zones, is due to go before the Planning Board soon.

While Cohen and Reiter have earned accolades for their work, some have characterized them as extreme. At one of their public meetings, participants said NoPornNorthampton’s practice of filming the comment sessions made them feel uncomfortable.

Two Web sites have been created in reaction to the couple’s initiatives. While one site is considered mostly satirical, the other takes Reiter and Cohen to task for threatening First Amendment rights. Creator Peter L. Brooks said NoPornNorthampton “got under my skin because I didn’t feel it was intellectually honest.”

Although he disagrees with some of their ideas, Brooks, a lawyer, also made a point of lauding Cohen and Reiter for their dedication.

“Adam and Jendi are good people,” he said. “They may or may not have made a legal boo-boo, but I don’t think we should make that the issue here.”