OBSCENE MATTER SENT THROUGH THE MAIL

INTRODUCTION

The Subcommittee on Postal Operations was appointed by the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service pursuant to House Resolution 78 of the 86th Congress. The subcommittee is authorized and directed to conduct investigations and studies with respect to the use of the mail for the mailing of obscene matter.

The subcommittee has concentrated its efforts in the 1st session of the 86th Congress on the use of the mails for sending obscene matter, which has become a nationwide problem of grave consequences. The great danger in this situation is the undoubted contribution which obscene literature makes to the growth of juvenile delinquency.

One thing should be kept clearly in mind. This large-scale business has nothing to do with enhancing art or literature, but rather is conducted for the sole purpose of reaping profits. It has become a racket geared solely to making money without regard to its effect on the welfare of our country. The attitude of the filth merchant is, anything for a buck-who cares about the harm that is caused by the flood of smut that is engulfing much of our Nation.

In this fight against the dealers in filth and smut, it is not really the freedom of the individual publisher that is of concern. Rather it is the freedom of a few unscrupulous individuals to reap huge profits at the expense of the moral training of our youth that is the real issue at stake. The billion-dollar business in obscene and pornographic material, coupled with the untold millions made by the few unscrupulous movie producers and book publishers as an outgrowth of the trend toward loose portrayal of sex, has become the "golden calf" of our times-the sacrificial lambs, our youth.

Hearings were held by our subcommittee in April and May 1959, at which time the Honorable Arthur E. Summerfield, Postmaster General of the United States, and Mr. Herbert B. Warburton, General Counsel, and Mr. David H. Stephens, Chief Postal Inspector, Post Office Department, testified regarding the problem of enforcement of the law declaring obscene material to be nonmailable. Testimony as to the need for prohibiting the use of the mail for sending obscene matter was received from the Honorable O. K. Armstrong, former Member of Congress and legislative chairman of the Churchmen's Commission for Decent Publications; John Cornelius Hayes, presidentelect, National Council of Catholic Men, and professor of law, Loyola University; Dr. Carl F. Reuss, executive secretary, Board for Christian Social Action, American Lutheran Church; Mr. Clyde W. Taylor, secretary of public affairs, National Association of Evangelicals; Mrs. Harry Sizemore, past chairman, Northern Virginia Citizens for Decent Literature; Miss Sally Butler, director of legislation, Gen

eral Federation of Women's Clubs; and many others. Many Members of Congress also testified, indicating their full support of the program of our subcommittee.

Hearings were held in July 1959, in Philadelphia, where the subcommittee was privileged to receive the testimony of Hon. Michael E. Musmanno, supreme court justice for the State of Pennsylvania; Hon. Victor H. Blanc, district attorney, Philadelphia; Hon. Leon Sacks, chief of registration commission, representing Jewish War Veterans; Mrs. Walter A. Craig, chairman of the Philadelphia Citizens Committee Against Obscenity; Joseph F. Doyle, president of the Philadelphia chapter, Knights of Columbus; Milton A. Eisenberg, president of the Philadelphia Public Relations Association; Martin L. Fountain, county commander of the Philadelphia American Legion; Inspector Harry Fox, commanding officer of the juvenile aid division, Philadelphia Police Department; Dr. Nicholas G. Frignito, chief psychiatrist of the municipal court, Philadelphia; Peter Galante, national judge advocate of the Catholic War Veterans of the United States; Charles F. Gerhard, director of public relations for the National Council of Federation of American Citizens of German Descent; Rev. William Gray, pastor of the Bright Hope Baptist Church of Philadelphia; Miss Virginia Howlett, staff member of the Health and Welfare Council, Philadelphia; Thomas F. McDermott, chief, county detectives, Philadelphia; Mrs. John J. O'Shea, community representative from Chestnut Hill; Charles G. Noska, Sr., lay president of the Hungarian Catholic League of America; James C. N. Paul of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, Philadelphia; Dr. E. Preston Sharp, executive director of the Youth Study Center, Philadelphia; Mrs. Juanita Kidd Stout, chief of the appeals, pardons and paroles division in the district attorney's office, Philadelphia; Harold K. Wood, U.S. attorney for the eastern district of Pennsylvania; and Rev. Theodore Strong Wray, pastor of the Wynnfield United Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia.

The subcommittee has prepared this report as a result of what was seen and heard at these hearings because it is apparent that there is a need to arouse the public to the seriousness of this problem. Also, as a result of these hearings, legislation has been introduced in Congress designed to help curb the mail-order pornography businessfirst, by giving the Post Office Department effective powers to prevent this abuse of the mails by administrative means, and second, by making the consequences of a conviction an effective deterrent to prevent further commissions of the crime of sending salacious material through the mail. This follows legislation enacted during the 85th Congress which helps to bring violators of the mailing statute to justice by authorizing their prosecution in the judicial district in which their obscene material is delivered. Prior to that time prosecutions could only be brought in the district in which such materials were deposited in the mail. This, as well as the pending legislation, should be of help to the Post Office Department in its diligent efforts to keep the mails free from salacious materials.

During the course of the hearings held by the subcommittee, it was demonstrated that the circulation of obscene materials and its effect on our youth is broader than just that phase which relates to the use of the mails. In addition to keeping it out of the mails, there is the equally compelling problem of getting this dirt off of the newsstands. Here, its ready accessibility to our youth seems to

them to indicate its acceptability and thereby to reflect falsely the moral standards of our society. The youth of our land are being bombarded from all sides with a loose portrayal of sex that serves to weaken the moral fiber of the future leaders of our Nation.

One fact which was very adequately proven to the subcommitteeif any proof was necessary-is that there is a direct connection between recent increases in juvenile misbehavior and the reading of sordid literature. The conclusion that viewing this type of material will have detrimental effects upon the average youthful mind seems to admit of no doubt. Every year we are informed by law enforcement authorities that juvenile crimes have increased in numbers and types over the year before. Pornography is not the only reason for this, of course, but that it is one of the contributing causes is sufficient reason for action being taken immediately to eliminate it in every way possible.

The subcommittee believes that while existing State and local antiobscenity laws should be strengthened and made more uniform throughout the country, they do, as a general rule, provide the means with which to prosecute smut peddlers. The chief difficulty in attempting to control obscenity by legal methods appears to lie not so much with the laws that are in existence as with the enforcement of those laws. However, greater uniformity of State statutes would serve to strengthen the efforts to apprehend the purveyors of filth and smut.

The use of the U.S. mails for the wholesale promotion and conduct of mail-order business in obscene and pornographic materials is a serious problem that should be of genuine concern to the citizens of our Nation. The most vicious aspect of this matter is the fact that these purveyors of filth are aiming their products more and more at the youth of our land. It is estimated by the Postal Inspection Service that possibly 1 million children this year will receive solicitations for lewd and obscene material through the mails. The cooperation of citizens throughout the land is needed to effectively combat those who use the mails to distribute obscene matter. The Post Office Department is not permitted under the law to open or in any way restrict the distribution of first-class mail. The Department is unable to take action against the purveyors of filth and smut unless citizens to whose homes obscene material is mailed report the matter to postal officials.

Suggested program for community action in a crusade against obscenity

Many citizens have written to members of the subcommittee indicating their concern and inquiring as to how they might unite with other decent-thinking citizens in their community to combat the dealers of filth and smut. In some communities citizens and organizations have already united in effective efforts to do this. The following suggested program for community action in a crusade against obscenity, which summarizes the highlights of these various community programs, is presented as a guide to those communities that wish to join in this worthwhile effort.

1. Form a top policy committee with representation from all the churches and church organizations, civic and social organizations, and veterans' groups. Enlist the support of newspaper editors and managers of radio and television stations. There is a

44984-59

need for citizens to be made aware of the facts relating to obscene matter sent through the mail and displayed on newsstands.

2. Develop a program which serves to point up this serious problem and provide a suggested plan of action. In this connection, discussion groups should be organized at which experts in this field can present the problem as they see it and ministers and other civic leaders can present their views. It is important to mobilize public opinion. Law enforcement against obscene literature, guided by this opinion, can be strengthened and encouraged. It is important to crystallize what community standards are.

3. Form a speakers' bureau which will help create an awareness of the problem by giving talks to various groups. The speakers should outline the problem and indicate how necessary it is that the public be interested. They should recommend that citizens support their law enforcement officials in actions taken against the filth peddlers.

4. Urge parents to whose homes obscene material is mailed to take these two simple steps:

(1) Save all material received, including the envelope and all enclosures; and

(2) Report the matter immediately to the local postmaster and turn the material over to him, either in person or by mail. 5. Let no opportunity go by that will dramatize the need for action. Encourage citizens to write letters to the editors and otherwise express their opinions regarding this problem.

6. Appoint a committee to visit newsstand operators on an official basis and urge them to cooperate by removing objectionable magazines from their newsstands.

7. Where necessary, campaign for new or "tighter" obscenity laws. It is important that local antiobscenity ordinances and State antiobscenity laws be adequate for law enforcement officers to effectively fight the dealers of filth and smut. In this connection, urge adoption of a law based on the model statute developed by the American Law Institute or the statutes of the State of New York.

8. Establish a "permanent" committee so as to prevent whirlwind campaigns in which the disturbing elements go "underground" until the storm is over, then when public attention has turned in other directions, come out and do business as usual. It should be recognized that past efforts of many national organizations have been very effective in the campaign against obscenity. However, it is believed that even greater results can be obtained by the proper coordination of the efforts of such organizations on a nationwide basis with programs of action of the thousands of local communities throughout our land.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Based on the findings of its study, the subcommittee recommends: 1. That efforts be made in communities throughout the land, along the lines outlined above in the subcommittee's "Suggested Program for Community Action in a Crusade Against Obscenity," to prevent the careless dissemination of obscene materials among our youth.

2. That national organizations lend their support to the campaign against obscenity by encouraging participation in this effort by their local chapters and by planning methods by which they may participate most effectively.

3. That State governments consider adopting legislation to provide more effective and more uniform antiobscenity statutes and thereby strengthen efforts to apprehend purveyors of filth and smut. In this regard the statutes of the State of New York, as well as the American Law Institute Model Penal Code, with appropriate modifications, might serve as guides. It is further recommended that State legislative commissions be established to study the problems created by the spread of pornographic and obscene materials. The subcommittee has found that the greatest progress has been made in combating the effects of this traffic in those States, such as New York, Georgia, and other, that have established commissions of this type.

4. That local governments consider adopting more effective ordinances to assist community efforts in combating the spread of obscenity among their youth.

5. That the various branches of the publications and movie industries consider the establishment of programs of self-policing to prevent the overdramatization of sex as well as the dissemination of obscenity among our youth from within their channels and that those branches of such industries that have such programs in existence apply them vigorously and conscientiously.

6. That the Post Office Department continue to advise Congress concerning necessary changes in the law to prevent the mails from being abused by peddlers of obscene materials. The subcommittee believes that the seriousness of this problem which is facing our Nation today warrants serious consideration of these recommendations by all parties concerned. The nature and extent of the problem which exists regarding obscenity and pornography and other matters are discussed in the following parts of this report.