many of these claims to be little more than hyperbole, warning against censorship in the abstract but providing little in the way of real evidence that the possibility exists.

That the evidence presented has been weak, however, does not mean that we should ignore the possibility that in some areas prosecutions might be attempted of works of undoubted merit in the name of obscenity law, or that obscenity prosecution might be threatened as a way of exercising impermissible control over works that are not even close to being legally obscene. We heard testimony, for example, about a local prosecutor who, presented with a citizen complaint about a not even plausibly obscene book in the local library, sought out a written statement of a literary justification for the book instead of telling the complainant that the book quite simply was not obscene. And as we have investigated similar incidents, and listened to claims about excess censorship, it has become apparent to us that the vast majority of these concerns have surrounded books consisting entirely of the printed word text only, without photographs or even drawings.

In thinking about these concerns, we note that material consisting entirely of the printed word can be legally obscene, as the Supreme Court held in 1973 in Kaplan v. California.58

And we have seen in the course of our inquiries books that would meet this standard books consisting of nothing other than descriptions of sexual activity in the most explicit terms,

58 413 U.S. 115 (1973).

plainly patently offensive to the vast majority of people, and plainly devoid of anything that could be considered literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.

Although many such books exist, and although they constitute part of all the categories of material we have identified, they seem to be the least harmful materials within the various categories. Because they involve no photographs, there need be no concerns with those who are actually used in the process of production. And the absence of photographs necessarily produces a message that seems to necessitate for its assimilation more real thought and less almost reflexive reaction than does the more typical pornographic item. There remains a difference between reading a book and looking at pictures, even pictures printed on a page.

All of us would strongly urge prosecution of legally obscene material containing only text when the material is either targeted at an audience of children or when its content involves child molestation or any form of sexual activity with children. Because of the effect of the child pornography laws, photographic material involving children is becoming less available, and this material, which is likely to encourage acts of child molestation, occupies a significant portion of textual obscenity. little prosecution of this material now, and we hope that that situation will change.

There is

Some of us, however, except for material plainly describing sexual activity with minors or targeted to minors, would urge

that materials consisting entirely of the printing word simply not be prosecuted at all, regardless of content. There is for all practical purposes no prosecution of such materials now, SO such an approach would create little if any change in what actually occurs. But by converting this empirical fact into a plain statement even the possibility of prosecuting a book will be eliminated. If this is eliminated even as a possibility, those of us who take this position believe that the vast majority of potential abuses can be quelled and the vast majority of fears alleviated with what will be at most a negligible reduction in law enforcement effectiveness.

Most likely there will be no

effect at all on law enforcement, although those who take this position nevertheless deplore many of the books, a substantial proportion of which involve violence or degradation. But from this perspective, what is lost in the ability to prosecute this material is more than compensated for by the symbolic and real benefits accompanying the statement that the written word has had and continues to have a special place in this and any other

civilization.

Others of us, however, while sharing this special concern for the written word, would not adopt such a rigid rule, and would retain both in theory and in practice the ability to prosecute obscene material regardless of the form in which the obscenity is conveyed. Especially in light of the fact that we have seen many books that are devoted to sexual violence and sexual degradation, some of us fear that giving carte blanche to

such material, regardless of current prosecutorial practices, is

Those of us who take this

to send out exactly the wrong signal. position share the concern for the written word, but believe that that concern can best be reflected in ways other than providing a license for material that, although presented in verbal form, seems substantially similar to the forms of pictorial obscenity

that concern us.

Although we are deeply divided on the question of a clear rule prohibiting prosecution (except in cases involving or directed at children), we share each others concerns. Those of us who would adopt a clear rule nevertheless regret some of its consequences, and deplore much of the textual obscenity we have seen. And those of us who reject the idea of a clear rule understand the concerns for purely verbal communication, and urge that prosecution of entirely textual material be undertaken only with extraordinary caution.

For many people the harms caused by pornography relate in part to the effects on communities and neighborhoods of the establishments in which such materials are commonly sold. Whether it be a peep show, an "adults only" pornographic theatre, or a so-called "adult bookstore," there seems widespread agreement that virtually all such establishments are largely detrimental to the neighborhoods in which they are located. Some of the negative consequences arise from the style of the establishments themselves, which usually have garish lights and

signs advertising the nature of what is to be found within in no uncertain terms. Other consequences flow from the clientele, who are often people that many citizens would just as soon be somewhere else. And such establishments are likely to exist in close proximity to areas in which prostitution exists, and in close proximity to establishments such as bars featuring live sexually oriented entertainment. As a result, most people would consider such establishments environmentally detrimental, and there is some evidence indicating a correlation between crime rates and the particular neighborhoods in in which such

establishments exist.

Although some communities have attempted to deal with pornography outlets through criminal prosecution, others have attempted zoning regulation more narrowly tailored to alleviating the consequences discussed in the previous paragraph. These regulations generally take two forms. One is a dispersal regulation, in which zoning ordinances prohibit location of such an establishment within a specified distance of another such establishment. The principle behind dispersal ordinances is that of scattering these establishments throughout a large geographic area, So that no concentration of them can have a major deleterious effect on any one neighborhood. Alternatively, some communities have endeavored to concentrate these establishments, attempting through zoning to limit them to one or just a few parts of the community, usually remote from residential areas, and frequently remote as well from certain business districts.