The STOPLight

Communities can curtail pornographers

How high does the river have rise before we unite to build the dike?

When people decide to take on the pornography issue, they need to think hard about it, make a conscious decision, then hunker down and say, "I believe in this. It's worth my time and expense to deliver flyers; worth it to oppose sexually oriented businesses and expose the harm they are doing in our community."

Pornography is based on mistrust, exploitation, and selfishness. Those harmed by the sex trade include women entrapped in cycles of abuse, men exploited for their interest in sex -- and children who ultimately suffer because they have parents, aunts, uncles, and teachers who are engaged in this activity. Marriages and family relationships are destroyed.

What communities can -- and can't -- do

The first thing communities must understand is that they cannot ban sex businesses because the Supreme Court has ruled that at least some of what they sell is protected by the First Amendment and they have the right to distribute it.

But cities can make undesirable businesses go to undesirable places through strict zoning ordinances. The less exposure they have to the mainstream areas where everybody travels, the less likely they are to make a profit. Zones for such businesses can be restricted to the least accessible and least desirable areas as long as there are enough of them to meet constitutional standards.

Stringent licensing requirements can ensure that convicted pedophiles or pimps and people who purvey obscenity or have been convicted of trafficking obscenity or child pornography are not allowed to operate sexually oriented businesses.

Some people think when cities zone for or license sex businesses they are somehow legitimizing them. In fact, without licensing and zoning ordinances, these businesses come in unregulated, which is what they want -- they make more money that way.

Barriers to overcome

• A very well-funded pornography community.
• People's perception that the law is on the side of the pornographers. People have been duped into thinking everything is a First Amendment right. Much of the activity in sex businesses, however, is simply illegal conduct cloaked in First Amendment distortion. Courts have consistently ruled in favor of cities' rights to prevent unsafe public sexual conduct.
• The overtake of secular humanism in our society unfortunately has taught people this radical view of individualism that supersedes any moral authority. If someone simply repeats over and over that they have a right to do something, then by their sheer repetition, they must have it.
• Most states and the federal government have laws against obscenity as well as the distribution of even "soft-core" pornography to children. We have a major task to educate police, elected officials and city attorneys about the laws and insist they enforce them.
• The media establishment exacerbates the problem by advancing misconceptions and embedding them deeper into the psyche of the American people. When people of faith or people who are morally healthy publicly oppose one of the misconceptions, they are perceived as extremists even though they are in the majority.
• Unlike what we originally thought -- that local sex businesses would dry up because everyone would stay home and use the Internet -- we're finding exactly the opposite. As people become addicted to sex online, they start looking for places to go to act out what they've seen. In response to that, there has been an increase in sex-oriented stores.

What NFLF does

The National Family Legal Foundation -- NFLF -- provides the legal resources communities need to take effective and constitutional action against illegal pornography and sexually oriented businesses. They:

• Hold national attorney-training conferences.
• Conduct seminars to educate city officials, police, prosecutors and city attorneys about obscenity and time, place and manner regulations.
• Draft effective, constitutional statutes and ordinances.
• Consult by phone about organizational and strategic issues for citizen action. They assist people of faith and moral concern to translate their emotional arguments into coherent, logical suggestions for making the community stronger.
• Assist at trial or submit "friend of the court" briefs in appellate courts.
• Provide general information and education via their website.

Communities need to enact the most stringent ordinances possible -- within the parameters of the constitution. Many people think it's going to be a quick fix -- pass a law and it will eliminate the problem. But it won't.

Don't be discouraged though. Scott Bergthold, president and general counsel for NFLF, says: "...what we have in our favor is the law and the fact that we are right." It's going to take a lot of time and diligence. But if we don't do it, who will?

from an interview with Scott Bergthold and information on the NFLF website; by STOPLight staff

Stop pornography from invading your home!

Mail -- It is against the law for pornographers to send obscene advertisements, samples, or other materials through the U.S. mail to your home. If you receive unsolicited sexually oriented materials, fill out an SQA Consumer Protection Packet at your local Post Office. After thirty days, if you get any of these materials, save all pieces (including envelopes) and report I it to your postal inspector and request an investigation. Also file a complaint with the U.S. Attorney for your district.

Cable TV -- Shows featuring nudity, profanity, graphic sex and violence in both hard-core and soft-core forms are found not only on commercial porn channels but on leased access and public access channels as well. Insist that your cable company block any adult pay-per-view channels at their expense. Scrambling alone is insufficient because audio is clear. Organize a letter-writing campaign to urge your cable company to stop profiting from pornography by dropping porn channels. Cancel your cable subscription if they continue, but tell them you'd resubscribe if they stopped carrying porn.

Telephone -- Over 70% of all dial-a-porn calls are made by children, most of them between the ages of 10 and 16. These 900, 976 and 800 numbers are advertised in free newspapers, phone books, even classified ad sections of daily newspapers. When Congress and the FCC mandated blocking to prevent minors from calling 900 numbers, the porn industry switched to 800 numbers and international numbers to avoid regulation. Call your phone company to be sure your line is blocked. (This is a free service.) Urge your friends and neighbors to get their phones blocked and tell them why. If your child uses dial-a-porn without your knowledge, refuse to pay the bills; call the U.S. Attorney to investigate any violations of the law.

Internet -- Federal law prohibits child pornography from being transmitted by computer transmission. Federal obscenity laws also apply and prohibit use of phone lines (common carriers) to transmit obscene material. Many law enforcement officials do not know that these laws apply to the Internet -- you can inform them. Encourage local and state prosecutors to enforce pornography and obscenity laws against those who transmit illegal material through computers. Ask them to investigate local bulletin boards for illegal activity. Become computer literate and monitor your children's computer access and activity to ensure they are not gaining access to sexually explicit material.

Source: "There's no place like home…for pornography" at www.nflf.com

Startling statistics

• In 1996 Americans spent over $8 BILLION on hard-core videos, peep shows, phone sex, live sex acts, "adult" cable programming, sexual devices, computer porn and sex magazines.
• Hard-core video rentals, strip clubs, cyberporn and phone sex sales have more than quadrupled in the last ten years.
• A Michigan study of 38,000 sexual assault cases concluded that pornography was used prior to or during the commission of rape in 41% of those cases.
• A Phoenix. Arizona study found 47% more property crimes, 44% more violent crimes, and 103% more sex crimes in areas with sex oriented businesses.
• Statistics show that 27% of girls and 16% of boys are sexually abused before age 18.
• As high as 85% of pedophiles use pornography to lower children's inhibitions and to arouse themselves.

-- see www.nflf.com for citations and more information

Studies have shown a clear connection between sexually oriented businesses and increases in crime such as rape, prostitution, child exploitation and victimization, increased health problems including sexually transmitted diseases and AlDS, substance abuse, promiscuity and illegitimacy, lewd and lascivious acts, increased police and associated court costs, increased neighborhood blighting, pornographic litter, and reduced property values in the area in which sexually oriented businesses are located.

-- "The Sex Industry in America" at www.nflf.com

Note

Just before publication we learned that NFLF has changed its name to Community Defense Counsel. Their phone number is (480) 922-9731.