Morality in Media and Pittsburgh Coalition Against Pornography Commend U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan for Charging Los Angeles-Based Pornographer with Obscenity Violations

NEWS RELEASE from MORALITY IN MEDIA, Inc.
475 Riverside Drive, Suite 239, New York, NY 10115

Contact: Patrick McGrath 1-212-870-3222; Dorn Checkley, 1-412-281-4565

NEW YORK (7 August 2003) - Robert W. Peters, President of Morality in Media, and Dorn Checkley, President of Pittsburgh Coalition Against Pornography, had these comments on today's announcement by U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan that her Pittsburgh office has initiated a Federal obscenity prosecution against Extreme Associates, a Los Angeles-based pornographer:

"The federal obscenity prosecution announced today by Mary Beth Buchanan, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, is the first case involving a Los Angeles-based commercial distributor of allegedly obscene material in more than a decade. Ms. Buchanan is to be commended for her action.

"Los Angeles is the hardcore pornography production 'capital' of the nation and world, and during the successful effort waged by federal prosecutors against distributors of illegal obscenity between 1987 and 1993, Los Angeles-based hardcore pornographers were a primary target for prosecutions.

"Obscenity violations are not 'victimless crimes.' Individuals harmed include 'porn performers' (many in their teens), children and adults who become addicted to hardcore pornography, children and adults who are sexually abused and raped by hardcore pornography addicts, spouses of hardcore pornography addicts, and men and women who acquire (directly or indirectly) STDs, including AIDS, from sexual activities in 'adult' businesses. Commercial distribution of obscenity also erodes the right of every American to live and work in a decent society and pours millions into the coffers of organized crime.

"Another theme espoused by defenders of hardcore pornography is that the widespread availability of this material is proof of community acceptance. If that is true, then most Americans must now accept (and presumably often enjoy) hardcore sex material that is 'DIRTY, FILTHY, NASTY, SMUTTY, LEWD, EXPOSED, RAUNCHY, DECADENT, NAUGHTY,' as one pornographer described its product line in a paid ad. Other words that come to mind when describing hardcore porn in general are ADDICTIVE, DANGEROUS, DEBASED, DEGRADING, PERVERSE, SICK BEYOND DESCRIPION, and VIOLENT.

"We think most Americans know the difference between right and wrong and would prefer to live and raise children in a decent society. In a March 2002 national survey (conducted for MIM by Wirthlin Worldwide), 81% of adult Americans said YES, when asked whether federal laws against Internet obscenity should be vigorously enforced. Among adult women, 90% supported vigorous enforcement.

"Prosecutions like the one announced today by the U.S. Attorney in Pittsburgh will significantly reduce the amount of hardcore pornography, make sellers far more careful about how they market it, and also reinforce the message that hardcore pornography is neither acceptable nor harmless."

MORALITY IN MEDIA is a nonprofit national organization, with headquarters in New York City, working through constitutional means to curb traffic in illegal obscenity. PITTSBURGH COALITION AGAINST PORNOGRAPHY is a non-profit organization serving the tri-state area of southwestern Pennsylvania.

News release from Mary Beth Buchanan, United States Attorney, Western District of Pennsylvania

Following is the text of the news release issued on 7 August 2003 announcing the 'Extreme Associates' indictment. Please note the graphic language in the release.

United States Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan announced today, August 7, 2003, that on August 6, 2003, two residents of Northridge, California, and a corporation based in North Hollywood, California, were indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on charges of violating federal obscenity laws.

The ten-count indictment named Extreme Associates, Inc., of 11133 Vanowen, Suite D, North Hollywood, California, Robert Zicari, a/k/a Robert Black, age 29, and Janet Romano, a/k/a Lizzie Borden, age 26, both of 12065 Eddelston Drive, Northridge, California.

According to the indictment, Zicari and Romano, through Extreme Associates, Inc., distributed obscene films entitled "Forced Entry -- Director's Cut," "Cocktails 2 -- Director's Cut," and "Extreme Teen #24" to the Western District of Pennsyvlania. Extreme Associates, Inc., also distributed obscene videotapes and DVDs to wholesale distributors throughout the United States, including to a distributor in the Western District of Pennsylvania. The defendants are also charged with transmitting six obscene video clips over the internet through their web site, www.extremeassociates.com. The six video clips are entitled "valeriejospit," "jewel," "PZ Summer Breeze," "dp_gangbang_7_gen_X," "miacum," and "analinspirational." They range in length from 37 seconds to two minutes, 54 seconds.

In 1973, the United States Supreme Court stated in Miller v. California that materials are obscene if they satisfy a three part test:

1. The average person, applying contemporary community standards, finds that the material, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest; and
   
2. The average person, applying contemporary community standards, finds that the material depicts sexual conduct in a patently offensive manner; and
   
3. A reasonable person, viewing the material as a whole, finds that the material lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.

The indictment charges that the charged materials are obscene under the Miller test, and that the distribution of these materials is illegal.

A search warrant issued in April 2003 for the business premises of Extreme Associates, Inc. has been unsealed by a federal court in Los Angeles. The affadavit describes in detail the sexual activity shown in Forced Entry and the other two charged films. According to these documents, Extreme Associates, Inc. was the subject of a Frontline documentary on PBS television which aired nationwide on February 7, 2002. That program showed (non-sexually explicit) portions of the filming of the video, "Forced Entry," which depicts brutal rapes and murders of several women.

Ms. Buchanan stated that "The lack of enforcement of federal obscenity laws during the 1990s has led to a proliferation of obscenity throughout the United States, such as the violent and degrading material charged in this case. Distributors of obscenity may be prosecuted under federal law in any district in the country where their products are sold."

United States Attorney Buchanan, Assistand United States Attorney Stephen R. Kaufman, and Damon A. King, a trial attorney with the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section of the United States Department of Justice, who presented the case to the grand jury, indicated that the law provides that Zicari and Romano face a maximum total sentence of fifty (50) years in prison, a fine of $2,500,000, or both. Extreme Associates, Inc. faces a maximum total sentence of a term of probation of fifty (50) years and a fine of $5,000,000. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.

The United States is also seeking forfeiture of the obscene films charged in the indictment, all gross profits from the distribution of the films, and all property used to facilitate the charged obscenity crimes, including the internet domain name, "extremeassociates.com."

Today's indictment marks an important step in the Department of Justice's strategy for attacking the proliferation of adult obscenity. In the coming months, several more significant prosecutions are expected against major purveyors and producers of adult obscenity.

The United States Postal Inspection Service and the Pornography Unit of the Los Angeles Police Department's Organized Crime and Vice Division conducted the investigation leading to the indictment in this case.

An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Statement of Mary Beth Buchanan, United States Attorney, Western District of Pennsylvania

Ms. Buchanan made the following statement at the 8 August news conference in Pittsburgh where the 'Extreme Associates' indictments were announced:

I am here today along with Robin Dalgliesh, Inspector in Charge of the Pittsburgh Division of the United States Postal Inspection Service, Andrew Oosterbaan, Chief of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section of the United States Department of Justice, and Vance Proctor, Captain of the Los Angeles Police Department's Organized Crime and Vice Division, to announce the indictment of a California Corporation and two California residents on charges of violating federal obscenity laws.

The ten-count indictment charges Extreme Associates, Inc., Robert Zicari, and Janet Romano with the distribution of obscene material. Three films, entitled, "Forced Entry -- Director's Cut", "Cocktails 2 -- Director's Cut", and Extreme Teen #24" were produced and distributed by the defendants into the Western District of Pennsylvania, throught the United States mails and other commercial interstate commerce. These defendants are also charged with distributing six obscene video clips over the internet through their website.

My office, in conjunction with federal and local law enforcement agencies, conducted an extensive investigation into the illegal distribution and sale of obscene material in the Western District of Pennsylvania. What we discovered is that the lack of enforcement of our federal obscenity laws during the 1990s, has led to a proliferation of obscenity throughout the United States, such as the violent and degrading material charged in this case.

This illegal conduct can reach into all fifty states. Producers and distributors of sexually explicit material must not only comply with the community standards for obscenity in their own districts, but they must also comply with the community standards in all districts where they offer their products for sale. The violent and degrading material which has been charged in this case, violates our community standards, and it clearly merits prosecution.

In 1973, the United States Supreme Court defined obscenity in the case of Miller v. California. The Court declared that material is obscene if it meets this three part test.

1. First, that the average person, applying contemporary community standards, finds that the material, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest; and
   
2. Second, that the average person, applying contemporary community standards, finds that the material depicts sexual conduct in a patently offensive manner; and
   
3. Third, that a reasonable person, viewing the material as a whole, finds that the material lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.

The Supreme Court has also consistently stated that there is no right under the First Amendment to distribute obscene material. Under federal law, the interstate sale and distribution of obscene material is illegal.

This is not a case about limiting personal sexual conduct -- It is not a case about banning sexually explicit material. This is a case about a pornography producer who has violated federal law. Extreme Associates has engaged in criminal conduct by producing and distributing material that violates our contemporary community standards.

Each week I receive letters from citizens of this community telling me about sexually explicit material that they find offensive. Members of this community have called upon my office to investigate this problem, and enforce the federal obscenity laws. That is precisely what we have done in seeking this indictment against Extreme Associates, Robert Zicari, and Janet Romano.

I commend the Inspectors of the United States Postal Inspection Service, the trial attorneys of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section of the United States Department of Justice, members of my office, and the detectives within the Pornography Unit of the Los Angeles Police Department's Organized Crime and Vice Division who are assisting the investigation and prosecution of this case.