interesting article on porn prosecutions

AmateurFlix · July 29th, 2010, 06:52 PM

Will Failed DC Porn Case Dampen Prosecutors' Zeal?

Quote:

Unquestionably there was skepticism within the ranks of the FBI and the Justice Department -- and resistance -- over the push to prosecute porn during the Bush years.

"I thought they were nuts," said one former federal prosecutor in Washington. "And they would approach you about taking these cases, making it sound like it was a great honor. They had cases that were just [garbage]."

He said his office found ways to politely pass on prosecuting them. "Nobody liked the cases, nobody thought they accomplished anything," he said. "They were true believers. They had a moral culture they wanted to push. It had nothing to do with enforcing the law."

Brad Garrett, a former FBI agent in the Washington field office, said the obscenity cases were tough to prove since they were based on community standards. Plus, many agents questioned whether it was the best use of resources, particularly after Sept. 11, 2001.

"It really boiled down to priorities for most agents," said Garrett, whose own accomplishments include nabbing a Pakistani national who gunned down two CIA employees at the agency's headquarters in 1993. "You've got a limited number of people. Is it really the best use of our time to be investigating obscenity with consenting adults?"