Legal News

Jury to watch hard-core porn to determine if it's obscene

By Jason Siegel

Excited about jury duty?

This week, jurors at a Los Angeles courtroom will have to watch four videos of hard-core fetish pornography, that includes bestiality and defecation.

It is part of the first case to be brought in Southern California by the Justice Department's Obscenity Prosecution Task Force, which was formed three years ago after conservative Christian groups appealed to President Bush, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Hollywood filmmaker Ira Isaacs claims he created art.

Prosecutors say the videos are criminally obscene and indicted Isaacs in hopes he'll have to forfeit all the videos he produced and transported as well as the money earned from them. They charged him with six counts of selling and distributing allegedly obscene films and two counts of failing to label the sexually explicit DVDs properly, InfoWorld reported.

One thing Isaacs can be excited about - 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Alex Kozinski was assigned to the case. Kozinski led an effort to remove Internet filters at appeals court's Pasadena offices that aimed to block pornography and music file-sharing, the California Lawyer reported.

UPDATE: Taxing porn?

California legislator Charles Calderon (D-Whittier) is proposing to increase the tax on porn (AB 2914), as well as the rest of the adult entertainment industry, which he estimates will bring in at least $700 million, KNBC reported (WATCH). The funds would go towards costs that can result from adult entertainment.

If passed, California consumers would pay a 25% tax when they buy a pornographic film and the studio that produces the film would pay another 25% tax on their profits, National Public Radio reported (LISTEN).

Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on June 09, 2008 (boomark / email).