Legal Commentary

A Lesson in Obscenity

By TChris

A bit embarrassing, this:

One of the highest-ranking federal judges in the United States, who is currently presiding over an obscenity trial in Los Angeles, has maintained his own publicly accessible website featuring sexually explicit photos and videos.

Goes to show how obscene it is that the Justice Department wastes public resources on adult "obscenity" trials. As to whether his own choice of viewing materials was obscene:

[Judge] Kozinski said he didn't think any of the material he posted on his website would qualify as obscene. "Is it prurient? I don't know what to tell you," he said. "I think it's odd and interesting. It's part of life."

The well-regarded judge clearly did not intend the website to be accessible by the public.

Before the site was taken down, visitors to http://alex.kozinski.com were greeted with the message: "Ain't nothin' here. Y'all best be movin' on, compadre."

Which is exactly what the Justice Department should do: move on to serious crime and stop sucking up to the right wingers who want to censor adult entertainment.

UPDATE: The trial has been suspended until Monday.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on June 11, 2008 (boomark / email).