Meese Report
The Meese Report (named for
U.S. President Ronald Reagan
. It was published in July 1986 and contains 1,960 pages.
The following people composed the Attorney General's Commission on Pornography (commonly called the Meese Commission):
- chairman
- Diane D. Cusack
- Park Elliott Dietz
- James Dobson
- Father Bruce Ritter
- Frederick Schauer
- Deanne Tilton-Durfee
- Judith V. Becker
- Ellen Levine
- Edward J. Garcia
- Tex Lezar
- Alan E. Sears
The report is divided into five parts and 35 chapters and details most aspects of the pornography industry, including the
history of pornography and the extent of First Amendment protections. The report also documents what the committee found to be the harmful effects of pornography and connections between pornographers and organized crime. The report was criticized by many inside and outside the pornography industry, calling it biased, not credible, and inaccurate.[1][2] The report along with revised prosecution tactics under Attorney General Meese was effective in reducing pornography markets in some jurisdictions prior to the Internet.[3]
The "Meese Report" was preceded by the report of presidents Lyndon B. Johnson's and Richard Nixon's Commission on Obscenity and Pornography, which was published in 1970 and recommended loosening the legal restrictions on pornography.
Playboy v. Meese
Prior to the Report's release, Meese Commission chairman
U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia agreed,[5][7] leading it to admonish the Commission,[7] order it to withdraw the letter, and forbid it to issue any list of retailers in the report.[8]
See also
- Committee on Obscenity and Film Censorship
- Effects of pornography
- President's Commission on Obscenity and Pornography
References
- ^ Wilcox, Brian L. "Pornography, Social Science, and Politics: When Research and Ideology Collide." American Psychologist. 42 (October 1987) : 941-943.
- ^ Lynn, Barry W. "Civil Rights Ordinances and the Attorney General's Commission: New Developments in Pornography Regulation" Harvard C.R.-C.L. L.R. 1986, vol. 21, 27-125
- ^ Alberta, Tim (November 2018). "How the GOP gave up on pornography". Politico. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
- ISBN 978-1-58721-184-3. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
- ^ ISBN 1615925406.
- ^ a b c Finan, Christopher M; Castro, Anne F. "The Rev. Donald E. Wildmon". Archived from the original on 2009-05-06. Retrieved 2006-08-26.
- ^ a b c Edwards, David W. "Politics and Pornography". Archived from the original on 25 August 2009. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
- ^ a b PENN, JOHN GARRETT (3 July 1986). "Playboy Enterprises, Inc. v. Meese (639 F. Supp. 581 (D.C. 1986)" (PDF). The Media Coalition. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
External links
- Full text via Hathi Trust Digital Library
- The Obscene, Disgusting, and Vile Meese Commission Report, by Pat Califia, an essay criticizing The Meese Report
- Politics and Pornography: A Comparison of the Findings of the President's Commission and the Meese Commission and the Resulting Response, by David M. Edwards
- Porn, Feminism & the Meese Report first published in the Proletarian Revolution No. 27 (Winter 1987) by the League for the Revolutionary Party (New York City).
- Some Say Meese Report Rates an 'X' by Edwin McDowell (October 21, 1986) New York Times.
- Group lashes out at 'censorship' movement by Brian Fuller, UPI Archives, July 14, 1986.