A U.S. Senate committee hearing on whether porn could be considered an addiction showed a dismaying unfairness of tactics, including the absence of any prior notice to the industry of the November 18 hearing, Free Speech Coalition said November 30.
“No one in the Adult video or Internet industries, nor any member of the Free Speech Coalition, was given any prior notice that the hearing would take place,” FSC board chairman Jeffrey Douglas said of "The Science Behind Pornography Addiction," the subject of the Senate Commerce Committee hearing. “Had the Committee done so, we could have directed them to researchers with much better credentials and much more credible data than the four witnesses the Committee apparently solicited to come before it.”
Douglas said the hearing's "secretive nature" suggested some on the panel had preconceived ideas of what they wanted to hear and invited only such witnesses as would give them, presumably, what they wanted.
Dr. Judith Reisman's allegation that sexual images override cognitive thinking particularly irked University of Southern California researcher Dr. Vern Bullough, who accused Reisman of misinterpreting data in her comments about such imprinting.
“If she’s going to say that, then everything a child sees, including his mother’s breast as he’s nursing, is going to be forever imprinted upon his mind and his eyes," Bullough said, "and I think that she is pushing data which doesn’t exist.”
Another committee witness, Dr. James Weaver, drew a little fire from The Question of Pornography co-author Dr. Daniel Linz, a communication and law professor at the University of California. "[He] has been a long-time researcher in this area,” Linz said of Weaver. “We have tangled over the years in our interpretation of what he’s found. He would like to attribute exposure to pornography to a number of ill effects that I don’t think are actually sustainable, even given his own data.”
Dr. Milton Diamond, professor of anatomy and reproductive biology at the University of Hawaii School of Medicine, said his own research, contrary to suggestions made at the Senate Commerce Committee hearing, showed that where porn laws are loosened sex crimes drop in volume – and not just in the United States.
“This has been found in studies in Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Japan, Poland, Finland, and also the U.S.A.," he said. "Basically, the incidence of rape and other sex crimes have been decreasing over the years as the amount of porn increases.”
That kind of available testimony, Douglas said, gave weight to suspicions that the Commerce Committee had ulterior motives behind their choice of witnesses, not to mention the prospect of a scenario similar to the Meese Commission, when President Ronald Reagan's attorney general led a study many accused of pursuing a partisan anti-Adult agenda and inviting only testimony that would support that agenda.
"[A]t least one non-partisan witness, Dr. Edward Donnerstein, charged that the Meese Commission had completely misinterpreted his research and testimony in its Final Report – a report which was used as the basis for several unconstitutional pieces of legislation," Douglas said. "The Report also inspired a string of indictments of Adult mail-order companies until the government was stopped by a federal appeals court, which ruled the simultaneous, multi-jurisdiction prosecutions illegal.”
FSC said they're willing to work with Congress and the Bush Administration to address the best ways to keep Adult materials away from minors or those who don't want it, but said bad data from unreliable researchers isn't the way to do that.
"From what I've read, it seems like they had a thesis or an outcome in mind and they conducted the hearings in order to formally bring the evidence forward that promoted what they already wanted to promote," said FSC executive director Michelle Freridge. "They didn't bother to review conflicting or objective [information]."
Freridge acknowledged that some people could well enough experience addiction to Adult materials but that doesn't make the materials addictive by themselves. She also said Adult entertainment can promote healthy Adult sexuality with "lovely benefits for couples and singles that are not damaging to society or to the self at all."
She also said FSC is considering hiring a federal lobbyist to help them advocate for free speech and the Adult entertainment industry. She also said the group is trying to reach out and work more with other First Amendment groups who may not have Adult entertainment high on their list of projects.
"If you look at the history of Free Speech Coalition, there have been several cases we've been involved in that were not specifically about the Adult industry," Freridge said, when asked whether the group's easy identification as an Adult entertainment interest group above other concerns might not hamper the group's effectiveness. "The free speech interest overlapped that of the Adult industry.
"Historically, other national free speech type interests excluded the Adult industry. Adult entertainment has only been legal for what, 15 to 20 years," she continued. "The [American Civil Liberties Union] and other First Amendment organizations that are older stayed away from Adult industry issues, and now we're working much more closely with the ACLU and other organizations like that. And, perhaps, we will be less focused on the industry alone and be able to broaden our efforts as we collaborate more with those organizations."
Free Speech Coalition plans a general membership meeting December 2 at 5:30 p.m. at the Warner Center Marriott in Woodland Hills, California. Freridge, Legislative Affairs Director Kat Sunlove, and other board members will meet and greet members over hors d'oeuvres and drinks, while Douglas will discuss Title 18, Section 2257, and the newly expanded federal labeling law regulations, followed by a question and answer session.
Also scheduled is Adult Industry Medical Health Care Foundation director Dr. Sharon Mitchell, who plans a presentation and discussion on HIV self-regulation in the Adult entertainment industry.
Members will also get what FSC calls a "sneak preview" of nominees for the board of directors and cast votes at the meeting.
Members planning to attend should phone (818) 348-9373 or email [email protected].
