FW #37 - 9/14/97

According to Kansas Family Research Institute, mainstream bookstores across the country are selling a book created by photographer Jock Sturges, entitled Jock Sturges (Scalo Publishers, 1996). This book is a collection of photographs of nude children in suggestive and lascivious poses. Unlike adult pornography, portrayals involving children need not include sexual activity to be considered illegal. Sturges' photography of naked pre-pubescent and teenage girls first caught the attention of the FBI in 1990. Law enforcement officers raided Sturges' San Francisco studio, seizing his camera equipment along with thousands of negatives and prints. Although a grand jury decided against pursuing charges, many claim that the Sturges' photos were clear examples of child pornography. In the opinion of Kansas Family Research Institute, "the sale of Sturges' publications clearly involves the exploitation of children and should be prosecuted as illegal child pornography.
[Kansas Family Research Institute Fact Sheet, "Child Pornography and Jock Sturges, 8/97]

** ACTION TO TAKE **
• Call your local bookstores to determine if they are carrying any Jock Sturges collections. (Titles include Jock Sturges, The Last Day of Summer and Radiant Identities). Confirm the availability of Sturges' work by visiting the bookstores that sell them, noting the names and addresses of the stores you visit.
• Contact the Justice Department about the availability of Sturges' work and urge them to prosecute.
  Address:
  The Honorable Janet Reno
  Attorney General of the United States
  Department of Justice
  Constitution Avenue & 10th Street, NW. RM 4400
  Washington, D.C. 20530
  (202) 514-2001
  There are already laws on the books that would allow for the prosecution of obscenity and child pornography, but because the prosecution of illegal obscenity has not been a high priority for the Clinton administration, these laws have been virtually useless. If you agree that pornography is potentially harmful to all men, women and children, please contact the Justice Department (address above) and President Clinton (The Honorable Bill Clinton, The White House, Washington, D.C., 20500, (202) 456-1111, (202) 456-2461 fax) and urge them to prosecute illegal obscenity and child pornography.
• Contact the U.S. Attorney in your area about the Sturges' work and ask their office to aggressively prosecute.
  Missouri U.S. Attorneys:
  Western Division -- The Honorable Stephen L. Hill, Jr., 1201 Walnut, Suite 2300, Kansas City, MO 64100, (816) 426-3122.
  Eastern Division -- The Honorable Edward L. Dowd, Jr., 1114 Market Street, Room 401, St. Louis, MO 63101, (314) 539-2200.
  Kansas U.S. Attorney:
  The Honorable Jackie N. Williams, 301 N. Main, 12th Floor, Wichita, KS 67202, (316) 269-6481.
  (Note: If you live in another state, look in the blue section of the phonebook for the U.S. Attorney in your area). Although the U.S. Justice Department should set the general policies and guidelines for the prosecution of pornography, much of the responsibility for actually building the case against pornographers rest solely in the hands of the local U.S. attorneys. When you contact the U.S. Attorney in your area, let them know that you expect them to pursue your complaint about Sturges' work and that you also expect them to prosecute obscenity and child pornography to the fullest extent of the law. [Kansas Family Research Institute Fact Sheet, 8/97]
• Important Points:
  Meet with the U.S. attorney in person if possible, and/or write a letter. The Supreme Court has deemed hard-core pornography unprotected by the First Amendment.
  The prosecution of child pornographers is highly successful, as the U.S. Justice Department has lost only one pornography-related trial in more than 100 felony indictments during the last decade.
  Obscenity prosecutions net big financial rewards for local jurisdictions through the collection of fines and the forfeiture of wealthy pornographers' property.
  Pornographers in our communities must be aggressively sought out and prosecuted.
  

The above section, CHILD PORNOGRAPHY & JOCK STURGES has been provided by the Kansas Family Research Institute, 2250 N. Rock Road, Suite 118-224, Wichita, KS 67226, (316) 722-3444. Please pray for David Payne and the Kansas Family Research Institute staff as they continue to follow this very important issue.

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