Oh, Bama's Department of Justice

Family Research Council, FRC, recently sent out messages about David Ogden, a defense lawyer nominated to be second in command at the department of justice, DoJ.  Apparently Ogden has a background working with the ACLU (an institution that once "kicked" me out of their DC HQ because I wore an Ashcroft pin and stood in the corner at their anti-Ashcroft press conference) in defending people being prosecuted for crimes involving pornographic images of children.  

I Quote FRC's message:

In the brief he filed for the ACLU, Ogden said the videos were not child pornography at all.  He argued that the children’s genitals were not clearly visible and that the videos should therefore be treated as just another art form with full protection by the First Amendment.  Even more outrageous was Ogden’s claim that if the Nather tapes were child porn, then librarians everywhere would fear prosecution!  Libraries had images of clothed minors, he argued, any of which could be subject to prosecution limited only by a subjective test of lasciviousness.  

This argument was clearly absurd, and thankfully the court concluded it was also legally wrong.  On June 9, 1994, the Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment against Stephen Knox for violation of federal child pornography law.

President Obama has nominated David Ogden to a high-level position in his sub-cabinet -- not a position in agriculture or defense but the number two position at the Department of Justice, the Department charged with prosecuting adult and child pornography violations.  The porn industry is so excited by the prospect of having one of their allies in this key position that they have not been able to contain themselves.  XBiz, a leading “adult” newswire, called Ogden a “strong pick,” and porn attorney Colin Hardacre of Los Angeles said Ogden’s nomination is “a good sign for the adult industry.”

Oh, my!  Oh, Bama!