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Morality in Media
History in Brief, Ongoing Programs

History in Brief

A 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, Morality in Media (MIM) was launched in New York City in 1962 as a neighborhood organization after grade school children were caught with pornographic publications. Founding members included a Catholic Priest, an Orthodox Jewish Rabbi, a Lutheran pastor, and a Greek Orthodox Priest. Now national in scope, MIM works through constitutional means to curb traffic in obscenity and uphold standards of decency in media. Common sense, anecdotal evidence and social science research all point to a link between obscenity and indecency and harmful consequences.

In 1968, one of the four clergy, Fr. Morton A. Hill, was appointed by President Johnson to serve on the Presidential Commission on Obscenity and Pornography. In 1970, the Commission issued a report recommending that obscenity be legalized for consenting adults. Fr. Hill and another Commissioner issued a minority report describing the majority report as a “Magna Carta for the pornographer” and, in so doing, helped save obscenity laws. President Nixon and Congress ultimately rejected the majority report, and the Supreme Court later cited the Hill-Link minority report in upholding obscenity laws.

In 1983, Fr. Hill also organized a meeting at the White House between President Reagan and a group of national leaders concerned about the proliferation of hardcore pornography. The 1983 meeting was instrumental in the formation of the Attorney General’s Commission on Pornography in 1985 and the Obscenity Enforcement Unit in the Justice Department in 1987, which initiated hundreds of successful obscenity prosecutions against interstate distributors of hardcore pornography from 1987-1993.

Over the years MIM has participated and frequently played a pivotal role in many legislative victories that have made a difference for the better at the Federal, State and local levels. These include:

• Enactment of S.Con.Res.77 in support of enforcement of federal obscenity laws (2003)
• Launch of the www.obscenitycrimes.org website project in 2002
• Extension of the broadcast indecency ban by two prime-time hours, to 10 p.m. (1996)
• Enactment of indecency controls on leased-access cable TV channels (1996)
• Enactment of the Federal law extending tough RICO penalties to obscenity crimes (1984)
• Enactment of numerous state and local anti-pornography laws (1970 to present)

Ongoing Programs

Morality in Media conducts a variety of public education activities designed to help citizens deal constitutionally with the threat of obscenity in their communities and the erosion of decency standards in the media. Public education activities include a public inquiry service (responding to requests for materials and assistance), operation of the www.moralityinmedia.org web site, speaking engagements, media interviews, meetings with public officials and representatives of the media, the annual White Ribbon Against Pornography Campaign and various publications, including:

• MIM Newsletter, a quarterly publication for MIM members
• A View From Riverside Drive, by Ed Hynes, a monthly online publication
• Pornography’s Effects on Adults & Children, by Dr. Victor B. Cline, a monograph
• The Link Between Pornography and Violent Sex Crimes, by Robert Peters

In 2002, MIM launched the www.obscenitycrimes.org website to provide citizens with a means online to report violations of Internet obscenity laws. Reports to the website are forwarded by MIM to the Justice Department in Washington and to each local U.S. Attorney where a report originated. MIM has retained the services of two retired law enforcement agents to follow up on select reports submitted to the site. There is no comparable tool for filing citizen obscenity complaints to federal prosecutors. The Web site also contains information for parents, for pornography victims, for persons addicted to pornography, for persons who want help in fighting back against pornographic videos and magazines in mainstream stores, mail porn, cable/satellite TV porn, and “sexually oriented businesses.”

Morality in Media operates the National Obscenity Law Center (NOLC), a clearinghouse of information on obscenity and related law, with a library that includes published obscenity cases going back to 1800, federal, state and local anti-pornography laws, and monographs on legal questions that are the subject of recurring inquiries. NOLC attorneys consult with public officials on obscenity and indecency problems, prepare and critique proposed legislation and administrative regulations, and submit amicus curiae briefs in court cases. Many laws now on the books at the federal, state and local levels are there (in large or small part) because of the work of NOLC attorneys. The NOLC also publishes the Obscenity Law Reporter, bi-monthly Obscenity Law Bulletin, and the Handbook on the Prosecution of Obscenity Cases, and has Web site pages at www.moralityinmedia.org/nolc/.

In 2001, the NOLC launched the Safe States & Cities Project to help local governments minimize the adverse secondary effects associated with “sexually oriented businesses.” NOLC attorneys have prepared case law studies (state-by-state) to address the following problems: Nude Dancing, Peep Show Booths, Massage Parlors, Escort Services and Swingers Clubs. Case law studies are available free of charge at www.moralityinmedia.org/nolc (“Studies on SOBs”) and at little cost in disk format.

In 2001, the NOLC initiated efforts aimed at the adoption of an international treaty prohibiting trans-border transmission of obscenity via the Internet and satellite TV. MIM prepared a draft treaty, hired a seasoned Washington professional to build support for the treaty with the U.S. government and foreign nations and became an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the UN. International treaties on obscene publications were signed in 1910 (amended in 1949) and in 1923 (amended in 1947). This project is on hold due to financial constraints.