July 19, 2010

Porn Producer Cleared of Charges

Charges against the porn producer I posted about a few days ago have been dropped, reports the Washington Post.

John Stagliano had come under federal prosecution on obscenity charges. District Court Judge Richard Leon said evidence presented by the Justice Department's Obscenity Prosecution Task Force (OPTF), which was established under President George W. Bush in 2005, was "woefully insufficient" to link defendants to the production and distribution of two DVDs at the heart of the case. In other words, the case was dismissed on a technicality yet the judge, whom I'd like to declare hero of the moment, noted the following in his rebuke: "I hope the government will learn a lesson from its experience." Let's hope it does indeed.

Unfortunately, the OPTF will still be there with the power to investigate and prosecute porn film producing companies while US obscenity law remains a legal maze, leaving everyone in doubt about just what "obscenity" means to begin with. Stagliano's ordeal has come to an end but the porn industry as such still has the Federal Government to fear.

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