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, propriety, morality, culture, appreciation of beauty and art, and a genuine respect for other human beings.

An "adult" bookstore is a place of evil. It is a den of decadence, debasement, degradation, and violence -- a hell hole! It is filled with illegal, obscene, hardcore pornography.

The "adult" bookstore creates for sex addicts and perverts a "paradise in which the only emotion is lust and the only event orgasm." It denigrates the integrity of women by treating them as sexual instruments rather than as human beings, and, more often than not, by degrading them. Along with the usual obscenity, these stores also carry magazines and videos that depict sadomasochistic abuse, flagellation, and torture.

Such a bookstore frequently includes a "Sodom and Gomorrah" masturbatory parlor in the back room. Those who enter will find "no glory, no beauty, no stars" -- just slime! 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 also 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 the "adult" bookstores are in your city, town, or village before concentrating on this potential problem, you may find it extremely difficult to dislodge them. The usual tactic of porn merchants is to 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 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 industrial zoning, open booth, hours-of-operation and dildo laws now, before these stores open in your community. It is our belief that you can do this even though you do not have an "adult" bookstore, and no one is threatening to open one in your community. These laws will certainly be a deterrent to one opening up in your town 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

In any war, as former General Colin Powell said, first determine what "assets" you have available to fight the battle. In the war against obscenity, your "assets" are:

Knowledge of the constitutional laws available;

Ability to organize and persist;

Determination of the commnity to act;

Level of cooperation of state and Federal prosecutors, the police, and the FBI;

Energetic, relentless enforcement of obscenity laws; and

The ability to pass appropriate laws where needed.

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. The Morality in Media Web site has links on its Web site to the Federal and State obscenity laws on their respective Governments' Web sites.

In states which do not have an obscenity law, your group must work with others to get such a law enacted.

Material is obscene (in layman's terms) if it is a) an indecent appeal to lust, b) it depicts or describes hardcore sexual conduct in a patently offensive manner, and c) it lacks serious literary, artistic, political, and scientific value. Since most of the stock of an "adult" bookstore is hardcore porn, you can feel confident that much of what they sell or rent fits the legal definition of obscenity.

You should next form a committee to meet regularly (at least once a month) 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 many educational materials if you need them.

After your committee is formed, it should survey the community to determine the location of "adult" bookstores. Next, a representative of the committee, preferably a male, should enter the "adult" bookstore (he need not announce his purpose!) 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 magazines or videos. He should obtain a video catalog, if available, and then report his findings to the committee. Morality in Media has a State Obscenity Complaint Form (with instructions) that you can submit to your local prosecutor to complain 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 various bookstores.

You may also want to present your prosecutor with a copy of Handbook on the Prosecution of Obscenity Cases by George M. Weaver, available for only $10.00 from Morality in Media.

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 they are going to be arrrested.

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 in 1984.

Your committee should ask the United States Attorney, who is responsible for enforcing the federal obscenity laws, to investigate for possible violations of these laws. The ObscenityCrimes.org Web site has an on-line Federal Obscenity Complaint Form, which will be directed to your local United States Attorney to complain about possible violations of Federal obscenity laws.

The targets of his or her 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.

You should also send a brief letter of complaint to the following address: Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section; U.S. Justice Dept., Criminal Division; 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW; Washington, DC 20530.

Federal prosecutors have often attempted to deflect complaints about illegal obscenity by pointing to one or more child sexual exploitation cases that 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 illegal "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.