Fighting back against 'adult' bookstores

We begin by making several observations. The first is that there is nothing "adult" about an "adult" bookstore. A true adult has a sense of decency, responsibility, morality, appreciation of true beauty and art, and a genuine respect for other human beings.

An "adult" bookstore is a den of decadence, debasement, degradation, and sexual violence.   It is filled with hardcore pornography, much if not most of which is illegal.

The "adult" bookstore creates for sex addicts and perverts an evil "paradise in which the only emotion is lust and the only event orgasm." While these stores may not carry actual child pornography they do carry hardcore pornographic depictions of sex with persons who look like children, sex with barely legal teens, sex with animals, sex with excrement, sex with multiple partners, sex with prostitutes, sex with she-males, sex with someone else’s spouse, and sexual violence against women, including rape and torture.

“Adult” bookstores frequently include masturbatory parlors (also known as “peep show booths”) where men view hardcore pornographic videos on screens or live entertainment behind glass partitions.  In some case, there are holes between the booths so that men can engage in anonymous sex acts with each other.  Prostitution and use of illegal drugs are also frequently associated with “adult” bookstores.  To call this "adult" demeans the word.

After investigating a sampling of "adult" bookstores in six major cities, the Attorney General's Commission on Pornography reported in 1986, "In addition to visual and written materials, every store surveyed sold dildos, vibrators, aphrodisiacs, lotions, and cremes for sexual use. Many of the stores also sold knives, 'police' badges, whips, handcuffs, poppers, lingerie, studded collars, leashes, artificial vaginas, and a variety of other items."

Stop these bookstores before they destroy your neighborhood

If you wait until an "adult" bookstore opens up in your city, town, or county before addressing this potential problem, you may find it extremely difficult to dislodge it (them).  Porn merchants often apply for a permit or store license for a "novelty" shop. Once they are established, the novelty shop, by a sudden metamorphosis, turns into an "adult" bookstore. When the city notifies them of the discrepancy, the answer is always the same: "We are a First Amendment business. If you deny our permit, we'll sue you for violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1871 and demand $250,000 and attorney's fees."

At this point, an enraged citizenry demands that the City Council "do something" -- at least pass a zoning law to keep them away from residential and prime commercial areas.

A zoning law can help, but passing it after an "adult" bookstore moves in ensures that the establishment will be around for quite some time because such laws typically allow from 90 days to a few years for existing stores to move. And in some states, a statute or the state constitution gives an existing "adult" bookstore owner the right to say, "Go ahead, but you can't move me, I've been 'grandfathered' in."

So you say, "How can we protect ourselves in advance of such a calamity?" We suggest that you pass “adult use” zoning, open booth, and hours-of-operation laws now, before these stores open in your community. You can do this even though you do not have an "adult" bookstore, and no one is attempting to open a store in your community. These laws will be a deterrent to one opening up and will be a form of protective shield for the residential neighborhoods, schools, and commercial districts of your community.  The ordinary citizen may say, "Why should I permit such a poisonous store in any part of town?" The answer is that the U.S. Supreme Court has made it difficult to ban these businesses altogether.

Utilizing obscenity laws against 'adult' bookstores

As a former U.S. Army General once said, in any war, first determine what "assets" you have available to fight the battle. In the war against obscenity, your potential "assets" are: Determination to act; Ability to organize and persist; Knowledge of available laws; Ability to pass appropriate laws where needed; Cooperation between state and federal prosecutors, the police, and the FBI; and Vigorous enforcement of federal and state obscenity laws.

State obscenity laws           

In over 40 states, there exists a state criminal law against the sale or rental of obscene material, including obscene books, magazines, films, and videos.  You can find a copy of your state obscenity law (if it has one) at www.moralityinmedia.org/nolc.  In states that do not have an obscenity law, your group must work with others to get such a law enacted.

Material is obscene (shorthand definition) if it a) appeals to the prurient interest in sex b) depicts or describes hardcore sexual conduct in a patently offensive manner, and c) lacks serious literary, artistic, political, and scientific value. Since most of the stock of an "adult" bookstore is hardcore pornography, you can feel confident that much if not most of what they sell or rent fits the legal definition of obscenity.

You should next form a group or committee to meet regularly to educate and support one another and to devise a plan of action to have the obscenity law enforced by the police and the district attorney. Morality in Media has educational materials if you need them.

Next, a representative of the group or committee who is able to do so (without succumbing to temptation) should enter the "adult" bookstore and make a quick check of the nature of the store's contents, paying special attention to the existence of what appear to be hardcore films or magazines. He should obtain a video catalog, if available, and then report his findings to the group or committee.  A State Obscenity Complaint Form is available at www.obscenitycrimes.org (Porn Problem & Solutions page), which you can submit to your local prosecutor to make complaints about possible violations of state obscenity laws.

Next, a delegation from your committee should meet with the state (county) prosecutor. Remind him or her of the existence of the state obscenity law (you should have a copy of that law with you) and request that he or she send an undercover investigator to verify the hardcore nature of the wares available at the bookstore(s).

The National Obscenity Law Center [write to 475 Riverside Drive, Ste. 1264, New York, NY 10115 or call (212) 870-3222] offers a book for $15, The Handbook on the Prosecution of Obscenity Cases, which includes chapters on the obscenity definition, Pre-Trial Matters (Investigations and Search, Seizure & Arrest), Jury Selection, Opening Statement, Evidence, Defenses, Summation, Jury Instructions, and Verdict, Sentence & Appeal. If your prosecutor or police department haven't done an obscenity case before, this book can help.

The investigator will enter the store incognito and report back to the prosecutor. If the prosecutor approves, on the next visit the undercover investigator will engage the clerk or proprietor in conversation in order to show "scienter" (that is, that the person is aware of the character of the material he or she is selling).

The investigator will take his purchase (or rental) to the prosecutor who, after determining that it should be presented to a judge for a "probable cause" determination, will have the investigator present the material to a local judge. After the judge conducts a "searching inquiry" into the obscenity of the material and determines that there is "probable cause" that it is obscene, the judge will issue an arrest warrant. If the material has been rented, a search warrant will also be needed to seize it. This, in many jurisdictions, starts the criminal case. In some jurisdictions, the prosecutor may bring the matter to the grand jury.

The material is then presented to a trial jury (or judge in a bench trial) for a determination as to whether it is obscene. This process may be repeated as often as there are violations.  By vigorous enforcement of the obscenity laws, "adult" bookstores go out of business. It is difficult to operate a business from jail or to get clerks to work if will be arrested.

Federal obscenity laws

Federal laws prohibit the use of the mails to send or order obscene material, the importation of obscenity, the interstate transportation of obscenity, and the use of a common carrier to transport obscene materials in interstate commerce. A federal law also makes it a crime to engage in the business of selling obscene material, if the material has been shipped in interstate commerce. This latter law, 18 USC 1466, was specifically enacted with the local retailer of obscene material in mind.

On June 28, 1993, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the use of post-trial forfeiture penalties in federal RICO (Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations) obscenity cases. What this means, in layman's terms, is that the federal government can not only fine a pornographer and put him in jail, but also seize the "pornography business" without violating the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The obscenity amendment to the RICO law had been proposed to Congress by Morality in Media’s legal department in 1984.

Your committee should ask the U.S. Attorney, who is responsible for enforcing the federal obscenity laws, to investigate for possible violations of these laws. A Federal Obscenity Complaint Form is available at www.obscenitycrimes.org (Porn Problem & Solutions page), which you can use to make complaints about possible violations of federal obscenity laws.  You should also send a copy of the Complaint Form to the following address: Obscenity Prosecution Task Force, U.S. Justice Dept., 1400 New York Ave. NW; Wash., DC 20530.

The targets of the U.S. Attorney’s investigations should be the local "adult" bookstore and the persons who distributed the allegedly obscene material to the store. The FBI, not your local police, will carry out the necessary "undercover" work, and the material will be presented to a federal, rather than a local judge.

Federal prosecutors have often attempted to deflect complaints about illegal obscenity by pointing to one or more child sexual exploitation cases they have handled. Concerned citizens should respond by thanking the prosecutor for enforcing child sexual exploitation laws. They should then point out that the proliferation of hardcore "adult pornography" is causing harm not only to children but also to their families and communities, and that the best way to protect children is to enforce both obscenity and child exploitation laws.

Morality in Media, Inc. 
475 Riverside Drive, Ste. 1264, New York, NY 10115
(212) 870-3222   870-2765 (fax) email: mim@moralityinmedia.org