Meese Report
The final report of the Attorney General's Commission on Pornography (usually referred to as (the) Meese Report, for U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese) is the result of a comprehensive investigation into pornography ordered by U.S. President Ronald Reagan. It was published in July 1986 and contains 1,960 pages.
The following people composed the commission (nicknamed The Meese Commission):
- Henry E. Hudson, chairman
- Diane D. Cusack
- Park Elliott Dietz
- James Dobson
- Father Bruce Ritter
- Frederick Schauer
- Deanne Tilton-Durfee
- Judith V. Becker
- Ellen Levine
- Edward J. Garcia
- Tex Lezar
- Alan E. Sears
The report is divided into five parts and 35 chapters and details most aspects of the pornography industry, including the history of pornography and the extent of First Amendment protections. The report also documents what the committee found to be the harmful effects of pornography and connections between pornographers and organized crime. The report was criticized by many inside and outside the pornography industry, calling it biased, not credible, and inaccurate.[1][2]
The "Meese Report" was preceded by the report of presidents Lyndon B. Johnson's and Richard Nixon's Commission on Obscenity and Pornography, which was published in 1970 and recommended loosening the legal restrictions on pornography.
See also
- Committee on Obscenity and Film Censorship
- Effects of pornography
- President's Commission on Obscenity and Pornography
References
- ^ Wilcox, Brian L. "Pornography, Social Science, and Politics: When Research and Ideology Collide." American Psychologist. 42 (October 1987) : 941-943.
- ^ Lynn, Barry W. "Civil Rights Ordinances and the Attorney General's Commission: New Developments in Pornography Regulation" Harvard C.R.-C.L. L.R. 1986, vol. 21, 27-125
External links
- Full text via Hathi Trust Digital Library
- Full text via porn-report.com
- The Obscene, Disgusting, and Vile Meese Commission Report, by Pat Califia, an essay criticizing The Meese Report
- Politics and Pornography: A Comparison of the Findings of the President's Commission and the Meese Commission and the Resulting Response, by David M. Edwards
- Porn, Feminism & the Meese Report first published in the Proletarian Revolution No. 27 (Winter 1987) by the League for the Revolutionary Party (New York City).
- Some Say Meese Report Rates an 'X' by Edwin McDowell (October 21, 1986) New York Times.