The Justice Department: Fighters of... High Oil Prices and Obscenity?!

I originally began this post as an informative piece, detailing the new Bill approved by the House today, giving the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) the ability and power to sue OPEC.  Fortunately, I am one of the most ADD type personalities you will ever meet... I decided to look on the DOJ's website, in order to read a bit about them and their duties to our fine country and this link struck me as odd, so I clicked it.  The U.S. DOJ has an "Obscenity Prosecution Task Force"?!  Am I a little late in knowing about this?  The first sentence made me laugh the hardest, followed by a few others throughout the page and follow right along with almost everything I've written in the past week...

"Welcome to the Website of the Obscenity Prosecution Task Force (OPTF) of the U.S. Department of Justice... the Task Force is dedicated exclusively to the protection of America's children and families through the enforcement of our Nation's obscenity laws... The Obscenity Prosecution Task Force investigates and prosecutes the producers and distributors of hardcore pornography that meets the test for obscenity, as defined by the Supreme Court of the United States... Enforcement is necessary in order to protect citizens from unlawful exposure to obscene materials. The welfare of America's children and families demands the vigorous enforcement of obscenity statutes..."

I believe that our founding fathers would roll over in their graves if they knew that the federal government spent our money, in order to dedicate an entire task force, to protect us from ourselves (and apparently women's breasts).  I believe obscenity laws are ridiculous in the first place but is an entire task force really needed?!

Works are defined as "obscene", if they meet a 3-part test, originally constructed by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1973 case of Miller v. California.  All 3 parts of the test must be met in order for a "work" to be deemed "obscene":

"[First], the average person, applying contemporary community standards (not national standards, as some prior tests required), must find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient (i.e. marked by or arousing an immoderate or unwholesome interest or desire) interest; [Second],the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct excretory functions  specifically defined by applicable state law; [Lastly], the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary , artistic, political, or scientific  value." 

I believe that the federal government has better things to do with their time and my money; I particularly believe that the government's ability to track down and prosecute "obscenity" crimes is based on a flawed test.  How do we, as mandated by the Test, in this technologically modern day and age, define  a contemporary community?  I am speaking of a day and age when technology, like the internet, allows for and consists of vast, multi-nation encompassing, "communities"; where information can be sent and received in an instant.  Not to mention the fact that no where in the Constitution is there language charging the federal government to protect us from our "prurient" interests.  Hell, prurient interests are what help our population grow, because the last time I checked, babies weren't made by doing cross-stitch needlepoints by the fire (unless that turns you on)... 

So what's your take on this?   Should the Department of Justice be given the power to police our turn-ons? 

On a side note to my original thoughts... should the Department of Justice be given the power to sue OPEC?

All of you have been great at responding to my posts, and as I said before, being a first time blogger, I immensely appreciate both the comments and the criticisms you've written in the past week.  I just wanted to thank you all, for making this such an enjoyable project to partake in... now send me some comments!

- Zac Papantoniou (Guest Writer)

Comments

[benpal]

Can somebody please provide the name, address, and phone number of "the average person". I would like to ask him/her a question before appealing to the potentially prurient interest of my wife.

[Marty]

'Obscenity Prosecution Task Force' is begging for a SNL parody!

I'm not sure what opec is, actually. is opec an organization of oil producing countries that has authority or is it more of a union type group that offers suggestions to the businesses? most of the oil companies in the world are already government owned, aren't they?

[Hermes Ten]

In a word, the "obscenity" test is obscene; and everything about it is absurd, from the arbitrary, capricious, and whimsical notion of community standards to the authoritarian arrogation of State power to determine what has serious scientific, literary, artistic, or political value.

[Martin Owens]

So the House of Representatives has awarded DoJ the right to sue OPEC countries for not complying with US antitrust laws? That’s brain-damaged even for Congress, shameful even for a cynical, self-defeating publicity stunt.

Can anyone seriously imagine even attempting to compel Hugo Chavez or King Abdullah or Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to come to a US court to answer charges? And suppose they were actually stupid enough to show up, if the judgment went against them, then what? How would it be enforced? How many Marines does Congress think we’ve got?

For the life of me I cannot determine whether this is clinically insane hubris or mass hallucination. And this is the gang that’s telling everybody else how to run their lives.

Is it too late to give everything back to the Indians?

[Token]

Succinctly: No, and no.

[Jerry]

I don't know if the indians would take it back if we offered it to them.

[Windypundit]

I'm guessing that the Obscenity Prosecution Task Force is another waste of time, money, and lives from ADA Mary Beth Buchanan.

[Ragnar Danneskjöld]

Anyone interested in this colossal waste of money and freedom should google Mary Beth Buchanan. She's everything that's wrong with this system neatly packaged in an uptight pantsuit.