the problem will suffice. There is a multiplicity of factors explaining the lack of enforcement, and changing that situation will require a multiplicity of remedies. We urge that many of the specific recommendations we suggest be taken seriously.

6.3.3 Federalism

or

We operate in a nation with dual systems of criminal law. The laws of most states make the sale, exhibition, distribution of obscene material a crime, but federal law also makes it a crime to use the mails or the facilities of interstate commerce for such purposes. In thinking about law enforcement a recurring issue is the proper sphere of operation for federal law and the proper sphere of operation for state law.

Putting aside the enforcement of federal laws against child pornography, which we discuss in Chapter 7 of this Part,54 federal law enforcement efforts are now directed almost exclusively against large nationwide obscenity distribution networks with known connections with organized crime. With few exceptions, there is little enforcement of federal obscenity laws

54 In addition to trying to achieve some degree of analytic clarity, we put aside child pornography in this context because we note the extent to which prosecutors and other law enforcement officials have frequently relied on the number of child pornography prosecutions to give a general impression of vigorous enforcement of the obscenity laws in their jurisdiction. On closer examination, it has usually appeared that there was a great deal of activity with respect to child pornography, and virtually none with respect to the obscenity laws. We do not of course deny the importance of allocating large amounts of resources to child pornography. We do not believe, however, that any purpose is served by clouding the existing state of affairs with respect to the enforcement of the obscenity laws.

in cases

not involving some strong suspicion of organized crime involvement. For example, despite reasonably clear evidence that sophisticated multi-state operations dealing in large quantities of legally obscene material have substantial contacts with localities such as Los Angeles and New York City, there has been essentially no federal prosecution of the obscenity laws in the Central District of California and the Southern District of New York. We mention these particular districts only because they are large and have within them particular concentrations of either production or distribution of legally obscene materials. But the pattern of federal non-involvement is not limited to these districts. The nationwide pattern of little federal prosecution seems to have changed somewhat within the past months, most likely as a result

of the publicity associated

with this Commission, but it remains a safe conclusion that enforcement of federal law has been minimal.

We note the extent to which it has become common to assume that whenever there is a large problem the solution ought to be a federal one. Witness after witness representing some branch of state law enforcement complained that the real problem was the lack of federal support. Although we sympathize with these witnesses in their attempts to get more support for their efforts, we are dismayed at the unwillingness of the states to assume the bulk of the responsibility for enforcement of the criminal law. Although we do not deny the extent of federal responsibility, and although we do not deny that some states have

We

budgetary crises that approach in seriousness if not in magnitude that of the federal government, there comes a point at which the ready solution of more federal money for even the most worthy endeavors ca can no longer be the strategy of first resort. We are aware of our responsibilities, now a matter of law as well as good sense, to look for alternatives other than major additional expenditures of federal funds with respect to our own rather than someone else's agenda, and we urge that states consider their law enforcement responsibilities mindful of these considerations. also note that in our federal system primary responsibility for law enforcement has always been with the states. The police power of the states has commonly been taken to include primary responsibility for dealing with the very types of harms at which the obscenity laws are addressed. And the constitutional commitment to a federal system assumes that state involvement is preferable to federal in areas, such as most of the criminal law, in which local decisions may vary. We see no reason not to make, in general, the same assumptions with respect to the enforcement of obscenity laws.

Despite our view that primary law enforcement responsibilities rest with the states, federal law and federal law enforcement have an essential role to play in the enforcement of the obscenity laws. Most of the material that we find most harmful is distributed throughout the country by means of large and sophisticated distribution networks. It is precisely with respect to this kind of massive and complex interstate (and

international) operation that the special skills and resources of federal investigative agencies are most needed, and to which the nature of federal criminal prosecution is most suited. Prosecutions can, as with the MIPORN prosecutions in Miami, join

in

a single prosecution people from different states who are integral and controlling parts of the same enterprise. And the federal judicial apparatus is often more suited than that of the states where evidence and witnesses must be secured from throughout the country.

Thus, we do not see the scope of federal prosecution as being limited to cases involving demonstrable connections with organized crime. In any case in which the evidence indicates a multi-state operation of substantial size and sophistication, federal rather than or in addition to state law enforcement is most appropriate.

By

concentrating

vigorously on such operations, federal prosecutorial and investigative resources will be reserved for the cases in which federal involvement has the greatest comparative advantage, while still reserving to the states that primary role in more local law enforcement that is at the core of our system of federalism.

6.3.4 What Should Be Prosecuted?

In Chapter 5 of this Part we discussed at length the increasing trend in the scientific research and in general discussions of this subject to recognize that not all pornographic items are identical. There are substantial differences in the content of such materials, and we have tried

in the rough categorization of Chapter 5 of this Part to express our sympathy with these efforts to advance the clarity of thinking about the issue of pornography. Indeed, we hope that we have contributed to those efforts. As the natural consequence of these efforts to recognize the differences among pornographic materials, we urge that thinking in terms of these or analogous categories be a part of the analysis of the total law enforcement effort.

The categories we discussed in Chapter 5 of this Part encompass a range of materials far broader than the legally obscene, and thus, in the context of this discussion of the criminal law, a range of materials far broader than what we know can be prosecuted consistent with the

Constitution.

Nevertheless, these categories, with the exception of nudity not involving the lewd exhibition of the genitals, exist within as well as around the legally obscene, material that has been or could be criminally prosecuted consistent with the Miller standard, there exist materials that are sexually violent, materials that are non-violent but degrading, and materials that, although highly sexually explicit and offensive to many, contain neither violence nor degradation.

In light o f Our

conclusions in Chapter 5 of this Part, we would urge that prosecution of obscene materials that portray sexual violence be treated as a matter of special urgency. With respect to sexually violent materials the evidence is strongest, societal consensus is greatest, and the consequent harms of rape and other forms of