A couple that is heading an anti-porn group was told by the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office that they are violating the law by soliciting donations for their cause.
Terence O. Burke, a spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office said Wednesday that the attorney general sent a letter on Tuesday to Adam Cohen and Jendi B. Reiter, the husband and wife team that runs NoPornNorthampton, asking them to register as a charity or stop seeking donations, The Republican reported.
Burke said his office took the action after logging on to the group's Web site, nopornnorthampton.com. The group had recently sent out a mailing asking recipients to send in contributions in an enclosed envelope.
Reiter said she had not received the letter, but that she and her husband would comply with the law. Altogether, the group has received about $1,000 in donations, she said.
A spokesman with the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s office said Wednesday that Reiter and Cohen do not have to register their organization as a political group in order to collect donations since political groups must be registered only when their work involves a specific election.
The couple established the organization earlier this year after Capital Video announced plans to build a 9,000-square foot adult video store in the city’s downtown area.
Since NoPornNorthampton began its anti-porn efforts, the City Council has developed three separate zoning amendments to regulate adult businesses. Two have been approved and the other, limiting the display area for adult material to 1,000 feet in most zones, will go before the Planning Board this fall.
Although the couple has received praise for their efforts, some say they are extremists for their zealousness. Some residents complained that they were intimidated when the couple recorded the comment session of a public meeting.
Even as the issue heats up, two Web sites, mopornnorthampton.com and TalkBackNorthampton.com, have been created in response to the group’s anti-porn Web site. Although mopornnorthampton is mostly satirical, TalkBackNorthampton blasts the couple for allegedly threatening First Amendment rights.
