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96-2°OBSCENE AND PANDERING ADVERTISEMENT

GOVERNMENT

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MAIL MATTER

(Part II)

HEARING

Enrj irOtssitrFORE THE

Si dITTEE 111 1NCTIMS78kgryERAT I ONS

OF THE

-73 rR COMMITTEE ON

=4 }TICE AND CIVIL SERVICE

iE OF REPRESENTATIVES

NINETIETH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION

ON

118RARIEs

H.R. 426

A BILL TO PROVIDE FOR THE RETURN OF OBSCENE MAIL

H.R. 8215

A BILL TO AMEND TITLE 39 OF THE UNITED STATES CODE

IN ORDER TO PROSCRIBE THE MAILING OF CERTAIN MATTER

NOT DESIRED BY ADDRESSEES

JUNE 9, 1967

Serial No. 90-20

Printed for the use of the

Committee on Post Office and Civil Service

U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

83-792 WASHINGTON: 1967
COMMITTEE ON POST OFFICE AND CIVIL SERVICE

THADDEUS J. DULSKI, New York, Chairman

DAVID N. HENDERSON, North Carolina

ARNOLD OLSEN, Montana

MORRIS K. UDALL, Arizona

DOMINICK V. DANIELS, New Jersey

ROBERT N. C. NIX, Pennsylvania

JOE R. POOL, Texas

WILLIAM J. GREEN, Pennsylvania

JAMES M. HANLEY, New York

CHARLES H. WILSON, California

JEROME R. WALDIE, California

RICHARD C. WHITE, Texas

WILLIAM D. FORD, Michigan

LEE H. HAMILTON, Indiana

FRANK J. BRASCO, New York

ROBERT J. CORBETT, Pennsylvania

H. R. GROSS, Iowa

GLENN CUNNINGHAM, Nebraska

EDWARD J. DERWINSKI, Illinois

ALBERT W. JOHNSON, Pennsylvania

JAMES T. BROYHILL, North Carolina

DANIEL E. BUTTON, New York

WILLIAM L. SCOTT, Virginia..

PHILIP E. RUPPE, Michigan

JAMES A. McCLURE, Idaho

FLETCHER THOMPSON, Georgia

CHARLES E. JOHNSON, Staff Director

B. BENToN BRAY, Associate Staff Director

JOHN H. MARTINY, Counsel

WILLIAM A. IRVINE, Assistant Staff Director

THEODORE J. KAZY, Senior Staff Assistant

SUBCOMMITTEE ON POSTAL OPERATIONS

ROBERT N. C. NIX, Pennsylvania, Chairman

ARNOLD OLSEN, Montana

WILLIAM J. GREEN, Pennsylvania

JEROME R.'WALDIE, California

RICHARD C. WHITE, Texas

Ex Officio Vot

THADDEUS J. DULSKI, New York

II

GLENN CUNNINGHAM, Nebraska

H. R. GROSS, Iowa

EDWARD J. DERWINSKI, Illinois

ing Members

ROBERT J. CORBETT, Pennsylvania

orim

r
/

CONTENTS

Statement of— Page

Carroll, Hon. Vincent A., administrative judge, Philadelphia, Pa_ _ _ _ 36

Cavanagh, Dr. John, member of the American Board of Neurology dr

Psychiatry 40

Chernus, Dr. Jack, chief of psychiatry at St. Barnabas Medical

Center, Livingston, N.J 73

Fox, Harry, chief inspector, Philadelphia Police Department 76

Frignito, Dr. Nicholas, medical director and examining psychiatrist

in the county court of Philadelphia 56

Konietzko, Dr. Kurt 0., clinical psychologist 57

Lawrence, Hon. William F., Associate General Counsel, Post Office

Department 61

Miller, Charles, Director, Fraud and Mailability Investigations

Division, Bureau of Postal Inspectors, Post Office Department_ 69

Slap, Dr. Joseph, Philadelphia, Pa 54

Stander, Irvin, chairman, executive committee of the Greater West Oak

Lane Coordinating Council, Philadelphia, Pa 48

117

OBSCENE AND PANDERING ADVERTISEMENT

MAIL MATTER

FRIDAY, JUNE 9, 1967

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

SUBCOMMITTEE ON POSTAL OPERATIONS OF THE

POST OFFICE AND CIVIL SERVICE COMMITTEE,

Washington, D.C.

The subcommittee met at 10 a.m., in the U.S. Courthouse, Ninth

and Market Streets, Philadelphia, Pa., Hon. Robert N. C. Nix

(chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.

Mr. Nix. The subcommittee will come to order.

It was said of Eleanor Roosevelt at the time of her death, that she

always thought it was better to light one candle than to curse the

darkness. It is at least my opinion that the subject of pornography

and the mailing of obscene advertising is one that has involved more

cursing and less light than any other I am acquainted with in the

Congress.

We have come to Philadelphia to shed some light on the subject

of obscenity, because Philadelphia is one of the leading medical centers

of the United States, and is, in fact, the envy of many larger cities.

There is a great resource in this city, and that is medical knowledge.

We intend to learn as much as we can here about the relationship

between obscenity and mental health. After a lifetime in public service,

I believe that the first step in the study of legislation is the study of

people. For this reason, we have invited leaders in the field of

psychiatry and medicine to discuss people and their needs.

There will be testimony given here today which will describe

obscenity as material that weakens character so that the individual

is easily led by any pressure, to find the easiest way out of any problem

which may include a crime. There will be other testimony that will

discuss the presence of obscenity in matters involving violent sex

crimes. In either case, we are dealing with a serious problem, for if

obscenity is like narcotics in that it appeals to the weak and passive

personality, it is indeed a menace to society.

Make no mistake about it, obscenity is an affliction resulting from

the greed of a few. Pornographers and panderers come between

parents and children and no home is exempt.

A member of our subcommittee, Mr. Cunningham, had this experience when his son's name was taken from a Boy Scout stamp club

mailing list and resold to pornographers. Mr. Cunningham's home

was flooded by persistent pornographers who rely on the curiosity

and the resentment of authority by young people.

The Post Office Department received last year a total of 250,000

complaints from parents concerning lurid or sex-oriented advertising.

Complaints have increased by 200,000 a year over the total of 5 years

35
36 OBSCENE AND PANDERING ADVERTISEMENT MAIL MATTER

ago. What is worse, there are estimates that over 25 million pieces of

unsolicited advertising are sent through the mail each year.

Congresswoman Granahan held hearings here in Philadelphia

several years ago. There have been innumerable hearings by Senate

committees because this is a subject on which people demand action.

Yet there hasn't been much action because of the fear that freedom

of expression would be interfered with. The answer is that we have to

achieve a balance so that the public is protected as well as the freedom

of individuals. Time is short because the patience of the American

people is wearing out and they are angry. If we don't act reasonably

soon, we may lose the chance for reflection when people demand any

action, so long as something is done.

With these thoughts in mind, I will introduce the first witness. I am

particularly pleased and happy to present the first witness. He is an

old friend. We have been associated together for many years, years

that were not so productive and happy as the years that we are

experiencing now. He is now in the courts of the city of Philadelphia,

and I am grateful to have him for the contribution that he's made both

to the legal profession and to the city of Philadelphia. He has in truth

identified himself with the concerns of the people of the city of Philadelphia and the Nation. He is, as you know, the administrative judge

of the common pleas court and quarter sessions courts of the county of

Philadelphia, and he is a presiding judge of the court of common pleas,

No. 2, of the city of Philadelphia.

I welcome the outstanding jurist and a good friend, the Honorable

Vincent A. Carroll.

Judge CARROLL. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Nix. You may proceed, Judge Carroll, at your pleasure.

STATEMENT BY HON. VINCENT A. CARROLL, ADMINISTRATIVE

JUDGE, PHILADELPHIA, PA.

Judge CARROLL. Mr. Chairman, I'd like to say at the outset that I

believe the fundamental issue here is not freedom of speech, not

freedom of the press, but the right of the community to be protected

from the pollution of pornography just as it is protected from air

pollution or contamination of water supply.

This issue is deeply involved, of course, in the area of conflict of

individual rights, which are frequently disregarded when the matter

of rights are being discussed.

This congressional committee, in my view, should not be deterred

from its duty by any false cries of censorship. The right of the community to be protected from those who will sell this poisonous filth

for high profit is paramount, and this committee and the Congress

should not shrink from any confrontation between the necessity

for that protection and any assumed limitation by first amendment

guarantees.

Such conflict for the most part is illusory rather than real, for

pornography should and ought to be beyond the constitutional

guarantees of free speech and free press. There is no reason why those

guarantees cannot be maintained and protections provided against

rotten, disgusting, filthy, cancerous, degrading, and venomous

putrefaction peddled by the purveyors of perversion for profit.
OBSCENE AND PANDERING ADVERTISEMENT MAIL MATTER 37

I submit to you that the degraded substrata of art which is used

to poison the minds, particularly of the young, must not be permitted

the use of Government-subsidized mail service.

The ravages of this cankerous filth are especially deleterious to

the young, and while I am not exlcusively concerned about its effects

on young people, it is nevertheless a primary concern. The smut

peddler who assaults our children's minds is as clearly a sexual offender as the man who molests a child's body. Pornography is designed for instant self-gratification and that is a dangerous, decadent,

character-deforming way of life to teach children.

It blunts sensibility, leads to a society of selfish, disengaged, uninvolved individuals, results in sex without love and violence solely for

the pleasure it begets and leads ultimately—not to utopia—but, as

settled history demonstrates, to delinquency.

This committee should ignore the rising demand that all things must

be made available to all people. It is not the fashion today to say it

but it is, nevertheless, true that harm may be done by excessive

freedom, and to those self-appointed intellectuals of the world who say

that no one was ever corrupted by a book I say, "Look at the case

histories of the inmates of insane asylums and prisons—as I have

looked into the faces of the poor wretches who have stood before the

bar of the court for sentencing—and then come back and tell me if

this is so."

The flood of sadistic pornography is making America look hideous.

It is literally thrust upon adolescents with the most horrendous consequences. In this connection I would like to cite a statement made by

J. Edgar Hoover. Now, I quote Mr. Hoover. He said this, he wrote this:

I believe pornography is a major cause of sex violence. I believe that if we can

eliminate the distribution of such items among impressionable school-age children

we shall greatly reduce our frightening sex crime rate. As a law officer I have no

doubt in my mind that the most sensible and most effective place to attack is

through those who produce and distribute pornography. Yet it is not easy to

stop the peddler.

It is appalling that an entire community can work itself into a hysteria of

outrage against the sex criminal himself, yet tend to regard the man who helped

trigger the criminal as only a contemptible human being, better ignored than

punished.

What confronts us in this operation, I submit on the part of experts

in the shoddy business of pandering to and exploiting for profit one

of the great frailties of human behavior. It is the vending of a palatable

but deadly poison. Sex criminals and adolescents read it and are

influenced by it.

I would like to call the committee's attention to what has come to

be known as the moors murder trial in England. Three youngsters,

aged 17, 12, and 10, the latter a little girl, were murdered by two

sex deviates in their twenties. Their motive—pleasure. The murders

were accompanied by gross sadistic atrocities and sexual abuses. We

have many counterparts in America of this type of crime.

Part of the evidence, some of which was of such a shocking nature

that it was impounded, consisted of a tape recording the murderers

had made, with some musical accompaniments, of the torture and

abuse of the little girl. The murderers possessed a collection of sadisticpornographic literature from the "Memoirs of the Marquis de Sade"

to modern paperbacks with titles such as "Kiss of the 'Whip" as well
38 OBSCENE AND PANDERING ADVERTISEMENT MAIL MATTER

as so-called serious books on sadism and sexual behavior not intended

for general reading.

I am aware that some ivory tower dwellers argue that the possession

of such literature provides an outlet for depraved longings and thus

promotes a healthy, mental attitude with the result that the acting

out of antisocial acts is prevented.

I think the above example and the words of J. Edgar Hoover indicate that, at best, that idea is at least open to challenge. In this area,

permissiveness leads not to liberty but to depravity.

Far better would it be to take the safer course of preventing the

distribution of deleterious material until such time as it can be established beyond the shadow of a doubt that there ia no connection

between pornography and antisocial acts.

Any law enforcement officer will tell you that there is a close connection between pornography and sex crime and I say this to you out

of the abundance of my own experience extending over more than a

quarter of a century on the bench and more than half a century as a

defendant's attorney as well as a civil attorney and public prosecutor.

I am certain that law enforcement officers throughout the country

will cite to you during these hearings and statistically document the

incredible rise of the type of crime induced and caused by pornography.

We are confronted here and dealing with a half-billion-dollar-a-year,

extremely profitable business so efficiently organized that it is quite

accurate to say, as Mr. Hoover has said. that no child is beyond its

reach. All of this contributes to a general erosion of morality and the

general welfare of the Nation. The Congress, as the great guardian of

our Constitution and, indeed the conscience of our society, has the

responsibility to carry out the mandate of that immortal document—

to promote the general welfare. I can cite to you gentlemen no better

reason for addressing yourselves to the task before you.

Here in America we constantly overlook what I have previously

referred to as a conflict of rights. I submit to you as American dogma

or doctrine or whatever you are pleased to call it that the possession

of a right is one thing and the exercise of it is something distinctly

different.

Not only do juveniles but adults as well need the protection from

the exercise of other persons' rights that not only affect but deny their

own rights. To give unlimited freedom to the publication of pornography when commonsense and good judgment indicate that it is

subversive of morals, particularly of the youth, then we have a complete

freedom which is chaotic.

Ordered liberty with concomitant duties, rights, and a proper

exercise of those rights, has as its reward a wholesome free society. It

is my view and I have so held by opinion in the case of a publication

called "Tropic of Cancer" which kept the book out of circulation for at

least 4 years in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, that government

has not only the right but, indeed, the duty to prevent the sale or

publication of pornographic literature.

I got this up in somewhat of a hurry. It's not completely connected,

but I have been able to give the committee some of my very few ideas.

Mr. Nix. I want to say, Judge Carroll, this committee is deeply

concerned. We feel that the people of the country are deeply concerned.

We have set hearings in many places over the country, from the eastern

seaboard to the Far West, to the South, to the North, and it is the
OBSCENE AND PANDERING ADVERTISEMENT MAIL MATTER 39

kind of statement, the kind of view that you have expressed that is of

infinite value to this committee. I am deeply grateful that you could

appear here this morning, and I know of your interest, your longstanding interest in this field and in many other fields, the design for the

improvement of people in the city of Philadelphia.

Let me ask you this: As I understand it, great strides have been

made here in Philadelphia in cooperation between psychiatrists, the

courts, the legal profession generally.

Would you describe the cooperation that now exists, the plans for

the future between the field of psychiatry and the courts in an effort

to arrive at something to remedy this situation?

Judge CARROLL. Well, I am afraid—I catch the purport of your

question, but I am afraid I am not clear as to what the answer

should be.

May I, in my effort to give a proper answer, pose a question to you?

Do you mean what coordination there is in the courts with the

general agencies of the government, the local government, in connection with the subject of pornography?

Mr. Nix. No; what I mean, Judge Carroll, is I understand that

in the courts of Philadelphia, the criminal courts of Philadelphia,

they have a number of psychiatrists whose opinions are presented to

the court in any given case as to the mental state of a defendant.

Judge CARROLL. Yes. That's one of my pet projects. We have now

in the probation department, which I reformed, as you know, the

whole probation department.

Mr. Nix. Yes.

Judge CARROLL. We got rid of a lot of the—I almost used a bad

word. I didn't say it now. Don't anticipate me.

We had an awful lot of staff people up there and we cleaned out

our so-called psychiatric section. It only existed on paper, and I have

contracted now for the courts, the courts of Philadelphia, with Temple

University.

We have a psychiatric clinic that works out of Temple Hospital.

We had a doctor down there, Dr. Torney, I simply had to say goodby

to him, and we got them, of course, we have more space now. We are

still pushed for space. Now we have the psychiatric clinic. Everybody

that goes through our courts now can have a psychiatric examination.

On every sex case we have an examination right away, and that's a

step forward.

I had a lot of difficulty. It's amazing the amount of difficulty I had

to get money from the city of Philadelphia. It was not a new idea,

but to some of the people who had to pass on it, it was so new to them

it was a novel, and, of course, there is where the difficulty arose.

As you know, in the administration of government, you have all

kinds of money for uniforms and badges and things, but when it

comes down to the basic things, they are not used for that. They

see things and it's easy to appropriate money for things of that sort,

and by the way, in connection with probation, of course, which

affects this question very seriously, I was just able to get $113,000

from the State of Pennsylvania out of $175,000 appropriation for the

entire State to step up our salaries to parole officers. We just employed

four parole officers last week who have college degrees; for the first

time we have that, and I hope I've answered your question to say

to you something is being done.

83-792-67-pt. 2-2
40 OBSCENE AND PANDERING ADVERTISEMENT MAIL MATTER

Mr. Nix. I am certain that you have answered it, and I am very

glad to hear it, because I think this sort of practice that you initiated

here in the courts of Philadelphia, that you sponsored, that you are

backing, should be emulated all over the country, because it is the

view of many members of this committee, including myself, that there

is a definite connection between pornography and sex crimes.

Judge CARROLL. There is no doubt about it. It makes me shudder

to think that people, especially all these free thinkers, who say it

doesn't exist. It's amazing, the high places they are in, and they are

not called residents of ivory towers. They are not all residents of

ivory towers. It's amazing. I can't understand it.

Do you remember—you should—do you remember the time I was

in the district attorney's office?

Mr. Nix. I remember.

Judge CARROLL. We had a series of robberies in the section of

Philadelphia where you lived at that time. It came to me because the

police asked me to step in, the district attorney told me to, and I

did, and we found that they were burglars, kids from high schools

were committing burglaries in apartment houses in west Philadelphia.

We traced it back and we found that there was a moving picture—

we finally got it out of the town—a moving picture, which was just

nothing in itself, but it showed how to spring a lock in anFapartment

house, and every breaking and entering all through west Philadelphia

at that time—there was over a hundred of them—they were exactly

the same thing.

It showed how to jump a lock. The type of locks that were used in

the houses and 80 percent of those kids never would have done that

if they hadn't seen that moving picture. The picture was shown on

52d Street.

That shows that pornography is the same thing. It's the force of

example and the force of illustration so, that's one of the things.

Mr. Nix. Let me express the deep thanks of the committee for

your appearance here today. I can't really express in any words that

I command how happy I am to have you here today.

Judge CARROLL. It's a pleasure to be here.

Mr. Nix. Thank you very much, sir.

Judge CARROLL. I have a few extra copies of my statement.

Do you have colleagues you'd like to send copies to?

Mr. Nix. Yes.

Judge CARROLL. How many would you like to have?

Mr. Nix. I would like to have five.

Judge CARROLL. All right. I just brought that many down.

Mr. Nix. Thank you very much.

Our next witness is Dr. John Cavanagh of Washington, D.C.

I want to express the thanks of the committee, Dr. Cavanagh, to you

for your appearance here today. We know that you came up from

Washington for the purpose of offering testimony here.

STATEMENT BY DR. JOHN CAVANAGH, MEMBER OF THE AMERICAN

BOARD OF NEUROLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY

Dr. CAVANAGH. As I told you in our correspondence, I have no

statistics to offer on this matter, but I thought it would be of interest

to the committee to have a discussion of the psychology of pornography
OBSCENE AND PANDERING ADVERTISEMENT MAIL MATTER 41

as a background for an understanding of what this type of literature

can lead to.

Spectator sex as evidenced by the popularity of certain magazines

is one of the evidences of the emptiness and tastelessness of modern life.

These magazines are now published on a great variety of topics, each

intended to stimulate the erotic imagination of the reader in its own

way. Books, magazines, movies, and pictures may now be found not

only of the nudist and girlie type but of those which deal with an

appeal to the prurient interest of male homosexuals and lesbians, to

those stimulated by spanking, whipping, and domination or bondage

of both men and women and by women of women. Other magazines

and practices deal with specific fetishes usually of a bizarre type.

It is impossible to calculate the effect of such literature on the mind

of the average adolescent. "The teenagers in the 1960's are adrift in

a sea of permissiveness and, having parents with only the tattered

remnants of a code, have little against which to rebel"—(Modern

Living: Time, Canada ed., 83:54, Jan. 24, 1964). In our permissive society in which the image of sex, in its lowest common denominator, is constantly forced upon us, innocence has little chance of

surviving.

Part of society's present difficulty in protecting itself against

commercially profitable prurience seems to have its roots in this

fashion of excessive permissiveness and the exaggerated sentimentality

of many about the sometimes rough measures necessary for the

protection of public welfare—(Canad. Med. Assoc. J., Mar. 14, 1964,

Vol. 90, p. 700).

In the long run, the danger of such magazines, and the intellectual

and emotional immaturity they represent, lies in this: the more scope

given to them and the other false goodies of a sex-affirming culture

the less the attention that can be paid to the realities upon which

maturity depends. The specter that should alarm the thoughtful

parent is that of the youngster who, awakening at last to the falseness

and emptiness of spectator sex, will have forfeited his chance for

maturity.

SOME DEFINITIONS AND DESCRIPTIONS

A few definitions will help to clarify this discussion. These definitions

and descriptions acre important because although the basic appeal of

these magazines is sexual, each approaches it by stimulating and

appealing to different traits in the personality. Basic to the individual

psychological reaction is the appeal to the imagination or phantasy

life of the individual. Punishment and bondage themes appeal to

the sado-masochistic aspects of the personality. These topics will be

discussed seriatim—phantasy, sadism, and masochism.

Phantasy

Phantasy, or as it is better known, daydreaming, is a normal phase

of the child's development. It has been defined as the mental anticipation or substitute for the actual fulfillment of a wish. It serves many

useful purposes during the child's period of development in giving

him relief from the pressure and painfulness of reality, and it serves

also as a defense against unacceptable behavior. He is, by this means,

able to escape from the guilt which he would otherwise develop from

any overt misbehavior by phantasying the situation in the role of a

spectator. For those who have repressed their own childhood phantasies
42 OBSCENE AND PANDERING ADVERTISEMENT MAIL MATTER

it may be well to emphasize that the daydreams of children and adolescents are consistently filled with episodes of crime, violence and death

or such erotic trends as love and marriage. Punishment and cruelty

play a large part in their phantasies. Punishment and domination

themes promote the return of these themes to consciousness and may

lead to overt behavior. Phantasy may lead to acting out, especially

in the immature and emotionally unstable.

Sadism and masochism

These magazines may stimulate masochistic and sadistic impulses.

This is especially true of those magazines which deal with corporal

punishment, domination, and bondage.

Sadism: In sadism, sexual pleasure even to orgasm is derived from

the infliction of pain or humiliation upon a person of the other sex, or

upon a person of the same sex if the subject of the disturbance is a

homosexual. Such feelings may occur only in phantasy and lead only

to masturbation. It becomes a legal concern when put into action

against unwilling subjects whether they be adults or children.

Sadistic acts may vary from subtle humiliation to degrading acts,

from mild spanking to lust murder. In their milder degrees, such acts

may serve as a source of sexual stimulation to married couples as a

preliminary to the sex sict. The man may make his wife kneel before

him or spank her if she refuses. Biting and pinching are not unusual.

Sadistic acts become perverse when the anomaly is severe or replaces

the sex act; when the sadistic act becomes an end in itself. In such

cases, the aggressor may actually physically injure his sexual partner

who may be of either sex depending on his sexual orientation. It is

almost always the male who performs the act; sadism is unusual in

women. Alcohol may release such reactions, especially when •the

imagination is stimulated by sadistic portrayals.

As sadism becomes more severe, the violence of the acts becomes

greater. More severe beatings of the sexual partner, frequently associated with elaborate rituals, may be insisted upon. In such cases,

some degree of impotence may be a factor. Scratching, biting, and

sticking needles into the body are not infrequent. These may occur

with or without coitus.

One of the more pernicious features of the bondage and corporal

punishment magazines is the explicit statement that these are pleasureable if they are persisted in by the sadistic member of the pair. This

belief is false if the practice is severe. Many women may be ideal

masochists but are not active. This means that while they may phantasy being dominated they will not take pleasure from it if put into

practice. This belief that if the flagellation is persisted in it will lead

to pleasure may cause many husbands to persist in a practice over

their wife's protests.

What I wish to emphasize is that such magazines may activate

sadistic feelings which would otherwise remain latent. Since sadism

and masochism are basic, perhaps instinctual, in the personality

they are likely to appeal to the prurient interest of many people.

Masochism: This condition is the opposite of sadism. The subject

in this case desires to be humiliated, degraded, or hurt by a member of

the other sex as a means of sexual stimulation. This may occur with

the same sex in homosexually oriented individuals. This anomaly

derives its name from Leopold von Sacher Masoch (1836-95), an
OBSCENE AND PANDERING ADVERTISEMENT MAIL MATTER 43

Austrian novelist, whose characters indulged in variegated sex activity

during which they derived sexual pleasure from being cruelly treated.

Masochism occurs in two types: (a) the ideal in which the desires

are strictly psychic and begin and end in phantasy; (b) the active type

in which there is a desire to carry the process into actual practice.

The extreme of this state is the masochistic suicide. This is the result

of self-inflicted practices which are carried too far and get beyond the

subject's voluntary control.

Both sadism and masochism are encouraged first in imagination

and phantasy. In many suggestive, emotionally unstable, and sociopathic individuals, overt practices of even severe degrees may be

stimulated by the type of literature being discussed.

Prurient interest

In footnote 20 of the Roth decision (354 U.S. at 487), the court

explained the meaning which it attached to the word "prurient." First

it gave its own definition: "Material having a tendency to excite

lustful thoughts." Next it gave what it declared to be the pertinent

part of the dictionary definitions of prurient: "* * * Itching; longing;

uneasy with desire or longing; of persons, having itching, morbid, or

lascivious longings; of desire, curiosity, or propensity, lewd * *

Then it turned to the dictionary definition of pruriency: "* * * Quality

of being prurient; lascivious desire or thought * * ."

Among the definitions of the noun, "lust" given in Webster's New

Collegiate Dictionary-1956, page 501—is "sexual desire as a degrading

passion, and part of the definition given of the verb is "to have

* * * an inordinate * * * desire." Similarly, among the definitions of

lascivious given in Webster's New International Dictionary of the

English Language—second edition, unabridged, 1939, page 1395—is

"tending to produce voluptuous or lewd emotions, and voluptuous,

in turn, is defined—at page 2858—to mean, in part, "arising from

sensuous or sensual gratification." Turning next to morbid, a word

used in both the dictionary and A.L.T. definitions of prurient, we find

that Webster's New International Dictionary defines the word to

mean—at page 1593—"not sound and healthful, induced by, or

characteristic of, a diseased or abnormal condition; hence, abnormally

susceptible to or characterized by emotional impressions, especially of

a gloomy or unwholesome nature," and gives as synonyms "sick,

unwholesome, unhealthy."

A prurient interest, then, is an inordinate or abnormal interest in

sex. More descriptively, it is a preoccupation with sex which, because

of the powerful social and legal inhibitions that restrain overt sexual

behavior, causes a person to seek emotional impressions of sex by

vicarious means. Such an inordinate interest has always been deemed

by society, and presumably by Congress in enacting the obscenity

statutes, to be unwholesome and unhealthy and hence shameful and

degrading. Material which appeals to prurient interest is, therefore,

that which offers the means by which such unhealthy and shameful

vicarious gratification can be obtained. It is, therefore, material the

purpose of which is to arouse in the reader or viewer the emotional

impressions of sexual reverie and erotic fantasy. Where the individual

derives his sexual satisfaction exclusively from such vicarious sources

he is unquestionably sick.
44 OBSCENE AND PANDERING ADVERTISEMENT MAIL MATTER

OBJECTIVE NORMS FOR PORNOGRAPHY

Most thoughtful individuals will agree that there are types of

communication which, of their nature, may arouse prurient interest.

Books, magazines, pictures, symbols, music, the spoken word, motion

pictures, "art," and the so-called "comics"—these are the most

common of the vehicles clearly observable in our own society for this

type of communication. No one would question that the portrayal

of sexual perversions in these media would arouse prurient interest.

But here the agreement usually ends, for by no means are all of

one mind as to what precisely constitutes objectively the nature of

the material which incites this prurient interest. That the subjective

element must also be recognized in determining the offensiveness

involved will usually be admitted; however, how far, one may ask,

does this personal, individual, subjective aspect enter into the problem

of pornography as it exists today? Morals—or principles—governing

this area of human conduct are not in any sense relative; however,

the application of these unchanging norms, founded and rooted as

they are in human nature, may vary because of the flux of social

customs, the diverse cultures of different peoples, and even geographical conditions, contributing as they do to obvious adjustments

in social and individual attitudes.

As a case in point, consider the relative—and even absolute—undress

prevalent among cultures in warmer climates even in our own day.

Accustomed as they are to the sight of the unadorned body of the

other sex, these more primitive peoples are not the occasion of venereal

stimulation as would be the case, in the same situation, with a member

of our own culture. Only slightly less obvious is the change in mentality

which the present American generation has witnessed with respect to

feminine fashions in clothing: the "modest" bathing apparel seen on

our beaches today would certainly have been an occasion for sexual

stimulation only a few decades ago. Although I have departed from

the theme I have proposed, this tangent has not been without a

relevant point: it is important to realize at the outset that one's

reaction to such stimuli can be conditioned and modified by various

elements, particularly of the social order.

But the quest here is neither for the subjective aspect of the problem

at hand, nor for the evolution of the changing social factors which

help to shape it. Our concern, rather, is with whatever there may be

inherent in what is commonly called "pornographic" which would

constitute it as belonging to that class.

THE CATEGORIES OF SEXUAL ACTIVITY

The generative appetite reaches its fulfillment in the conjugal act.

The climax of the conjugal act is the orgasm. The conjugal act, then,

is the specifying object of the generative appetite, and its corresponding physical reaction is the orgasm. From this point the categories of

the specifying objects will be listed in their descending order to those

objects which cause little or no sexual stimulus. The degree of obscenity of a particular book or picture will be determined to a larger

extent by the category into which it falls. There are two series of

categories; the first is concerned with physical contact, and the

second deals with those practices which can stimulate the sexual
OBSCENE AND PANDERING ADVERTISEMENT MAIL MATTER 45

appetite without actual impact. It is with this second group of categories that we are most concerned.

I. Categories based on physical contact

1. The conjugal act itself.

2. Perverse forms of performing the conjugal act.

3. Apart from intercourse, touching the sensitive areas of the body;

e.g., the genitals, the breasts, the thighs, etc.

4. Touching of nonsensitive areas of the body.

5. Kissing. This admits of degrees, but I will limit it to two:

(a) Tongue kissing.

(b) Kissing in general.

H. Categories not based on physical contact

1. Descriptions or pictures of the first two categories and tongue

kissing listed in the above series. Attention should be called to the

significance of the word "description." A mere mentioning of these

things would not constitute obscenity. The Principle of Quantity and

Quality, to be discussed shortly, will clarify this point.

2. Complete nudity.

3. Partial nudity. This admits of further divisions:

(a) Exposure of genitals or breasts.

(b) Scanty covering.

(c) Bathing suits to fully clothed—circumstances play an important role in these two.

4. Style of clothes.

5. Poses of the models.

In connection with the last three categories, it should be said that

one cannot consider every possibility. The extent of obscenity of the

last three categories may be determined largely by the milieu in which

the scene is placed.

Nudity

While it is recognized that nudity in itself is not necessarily pornographic, it may easily become so due to camera angle, posturing of the

subject and suggestiveness. If these magazines are designed to illustrate the benefits of nudism it is of interest to note that in one magazine there were 164 photographs of young females as contrasted with

53 males and 27 children. This exact proportion may not be the same

in all similar magazines. It is interesting that if these individuals are

representative of the nudist group that practically all of the girls are

between the ages 20-25 years, that practically all of them have large

breasts, that their figures are quite similar, and that there are no thin

girls, nor older women. There is a greater variety amongst the males

but their proportion is certainly less than would be expected for the

number of females. One would expect a ratio more like that of the

general population. There are, in some cases, attempts at art photography but there is a high percentage of posturing in the pictures and a

focusing of the camera on the erotic areas of the body. The focus upon

the genitals in both the male and female photographs is much more

marked in the nudist type of magazines than in the girlie magazines.

The prominence of the male genitals is quite unlikely to have a prurient

effect on women but would definitely appeal to any homosexual

readers. Because of these features, in my opinion, magazines of this

type on the whole represent an appeal to the prurient interest. The
46 OBSCENE AND PANDERING ADVERTISEMENT MAIL MATTER

textual material is purely secondary in most cases and does not constitute a major portion of the magazine.

PRINCIPLE OF QUANTITY AND QUALITY

To judge the effect that a scene—in a book or picture—will have on

human nature it is necessary to consider the scene according to the

principle of quantity and quality. In brief, this may be defined: Is

the quantity, or amount, of description in a book or the amount of

nudity in a picture, or pictures, sufficient to arouse prurient interest,

and/or is the quality, or vividness, of the scene sufficient to produce

the same result? In other words, is the amount and degree of the

obscenity in proportion to the book as a whole? This is the standard;

it is for the judge or board of examiners to decide if the book or picture

violates it.

There are many cases where the circumstances surrounding the

scene can either aggravate the emotions of a man beyond that which

the scene would call for on its own merits, or, on the other hand, it can

offset and limit what of itself might be an offensive scene. For example,

a man and a woman placed in a bedroom scene have many more

connotations than the same couple sitting on a park bench.

Still another type of circumstance limiting the obscenity of a book is

found in the purpose of the book itself. Let it suffice to indicate that a

textbook for medical students could easily contain material that would

not be suitable for the general public at their corner newsstands.

In connection with the problem of circumstances there is the case

of how the influence of the whole book can offset a passage which might

of itself be obscene. It would seem that there could be some passages

which a book would never offset no matter how righteous the moral

which results in the final outcome of the book. This would include the

categories mentioned above under the descriptions of physical contact

and of complete nudity. As for the other categories a skillful author

could use them to good advantage in sharing his thought with his

readers.

Why these categories?

These categories of specific practices are broken down according

to their power of bringing about an emotional response. The descriptions of those acts which are suitable for generation will arouse the

prurient interest of the normal man. Since it is the purpose of the

sexual foreplay to prepare the husband and wife for intercourse, the

acts of touching the sensitive organs, and the nonsensitive organs, too,

under these circumstances, are most conducive to the same result.

Complete nudity, the next thing to physical contact, is inducive to

producing the prurient appeal. The categories from partial clothing

to fully clothed will produce an interest gradually declining to no

reaction at all; and this decline is largely dependent upon the surrounding circumstances. In some instances, depending on posture,

partial dress may contribute more to prurient appeal than complete

nudity.

CONCLUSION

Most of the communications in the groups covering nudism including those specifically designed to appeal to the self-sex, sunbathers,
OBSCENE AND PANDERING ADVERTISEMENT MAIL MATTER 47

corporal punishment, domination, bondage, and discipline appeal to

the prurient interest of the average man. When these subjects are

looked at as primarily the portrayal of perversions, the prurient

interest is more clearly seen. Such communications are likely to

stimulate the usually repressed perverse sexual fantasies and may

lead to their activation and the appearance of overt, painful, and

dangerous conduct. Adolescents are most likely to be affected by

these publications.

Thank you.

Mr. Nix. Thank you very much, Dr. Cavanagh.

Doctor, would you outline your professional qualifications for the

record?

Dr. CAVANAGH. I am a graduate from the Georgetown Medical

School in 1930. I have been in psychiatry since 1935. I am a member

of the American Board of Neurology and Psychiatry in Psychiatry.

I am a member for the past 12 years of the mental health commission

of the District of Columbia, which is a branch of the district court of

the United States, and I am on the faculty at Catholic University

in the School of Sacred Theology, and I am in private practice.

Mr. Nix. Dr. Cavanagh, I was reminded of the case we had in

Washington of a young girl who worked for Senator Carlson. That

was a case, as you well know, where the young girl was bitten until

she was unrecognizable, raped, and then strangled.

Now what type of individual would that be? What category would

such an individual who committed that type of crime come within?

Dr. CAVANAGH. I had included a similar case in this report but

omitted it at a later date, because I couldn't tie it in with the communications that we are talking about. However, there is no doubt in my

mind that this type of apparently unprovoked act is the result of

acting on sadistic impulses.

What usually happens is that this individual follows a girl wherever

she is going, especially if she appears to be going into a lonely neighborhood, and then he follows closer and closer to her, because he knows

this is upsetting to her, and this causes him to act out—it allows him

to act out his sadistic impulses of frightening her. At some point when

he is sufficiently stimulated he is likely to employ physical violence,

and this, of course, depends on the sickness of the individual, how it

will go.

As I mentioned, it has been known that other sex crimes, including sex

passion murders, are due to sadistic impulses which have been stirred

up for various reasons.

Mr. Nix. Dr. Cavanagh, will you state what, in your opinion,

are the mental problems, the mental health problems that arise from

obscenity—observable mental health problems?

Dr. CAVANAGH. I think that you might turn that around and say

there are certain types of individuals which would include the very

large group of adolescents who must be considered normal, I suppose,

in many aspects. The immature, the emotionally unstable, the

sociopathic who, in their desire to have a vicarious life of sex, not

being always able to find it, find these books useful and stimulating,

and this would lead to acting out of their sexual behavior, which is

based primarily on their basic psychiatric disorder, which is more

personalitywise than diagnosable as a specific psychiatric category.

83-792-67-pt. 2-3
48 OBSCENE AND PANDERING ADVERTISEMENT MAIL MATTER

But, I say, the immature, the sexually unstable, the emotionally

unstable sociopathic personality, and many acting out adolescents,

would be included in this group.

Mr. Nix. I see. We have received in the committee a great number

of letters from people from many parts of the country, parents, who

advise us that they are organizing sex education programs for their

children, and they wanted to know what effects obscenity would have

in such a program.

Dr. CAVANAGH. Of course, I believe that the education for sex on

the part of the parents and the schools and the churches, should deal

primarily at least in the beginning with what constitutes normal

sexuality, and this is what they would want to stress. The fact that

some people do perform perverse acts is not something that a growing

child needs to know, although at some time in his life he should be

informed about the possibility of homosexuality, and so forth, but in

normal sexual education, I don't think that obscenity plays any good

part, and it may play a detrimental part.

I can't see any good that could come out of it.

Mr. Nix. Thank you very much, Dr. Cavanagh.

I want to again express the deep appreciation of the committee for

your appearance here.

Our next witness is an old friend over the years, and as exemplified

by his conduct, a real Philadelphia lawyer. He's taken time from his

practice to come here today and we are very grateful to have him here.

I want to call Attorney Irvin Stander as the next witness.

It's a real pleasure to have you here.

Mr. STANDER. It's a pleasure to be here.

Mr. Nix. I know you will make a great contribution to the matter

that we have under consideration.

STATEMENT BY ATTORNEY IRVIN STANDER, CHAIRMAN OF

THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE GREATER WEST OAK

LANE COORDINATING COUNCIL, PHILADELPHIA, PA.

Mr. STANDER. Mr. Chairman, it's a pleasure for me to appear here

before you especially because you are my favorite, and my own

district Congressman.

I am appearing before you today as chairman of the Executive

Committee of the Greater West Oak Lane Coordinating Council,

which is comprised of 40 member organizations in the northwest area

of Philadelphia; including churches, synagogues, home and school

associations, and service organizations.

I am also president of the Neighborhood Center, a citywide leisuretime agency serving many teenagers. This group recently merged

with the YM and YWHA into the Jewish Y's and Centers of Greater

Philadelphia. I am also a member of the Public Affairs Committee

of the National Jewish Welfare Board which, incidentally, has been

showing an increasing interest in this question in the last few months

and is preparing a position paper in connection therewith. In my

spare time I am a lawyer, and the father of a 14-year-old teenage

daughter and a 21-year-old son.

I deeply appreciate the courtesy of your committee in affording me

an opportunity to appear before you and state the position of our
OBSCENE AND PANDERING ADVERTISEMENT MAIL MATTER 49

community council on the important task being performed by this

committee.

I might say parenthetically that if you just weren't taking the

opinions of experts and people who have had some training or special

experience in the field, but if you had announced these as public

meetings, this hall would be filled with anxious mothers and fathers,

as they were a few weeks ago when I spoke on the subject at a parentteachers' meeting at a school where 400 of them appeared.

Now, we are tremendously concerned about the antisocial behavior

of many of our teenagers, and we have been studying for some time

the various factors in our jet-propelled society, which are contributing

to the sharp increase in juvenile misbehavior in every part of our

city, regardless of the economic status or racial and ethnic class.

In our investigations we became forcibly aware of the impact on

our youth, caused by the strong emphasis of crime and violence in

modern television programing, which continues unabated despite

all efforts of the national authorities to get voluntary changes in

programing by the television industry. We have also watched with

dismay the unbridled shift to sex-motivated films in our movies,

with emphasis on sexuality, homosexuality, and even incest.

I have here a typical page of movie ads from one of our newspapers

one day not so long ago, with suggestive come-on ads of eight films

exhibited that week, including such films as "A Covenant With

Death," described as "A dazzling suspense experience started by a

girl who never pulled down the shades. Different—earthy and bawdy."

I addressed a parent-teachers' group recently at the Edmond School

on this subject and told them facetiously that if they want to take

their children to a family-type movie, they's have to see 'The Wonderful Sound of Music" for the fourth time, because there just wasn't

anything else around.

Now, there is another "front" in the stream of obscene and bawdy

material assailing our children—and us, too—in the ever-increasing

volume of suggestive recordings being played on the diskjockey radio

programs. We get songs with the titles like "Let's Try It, Baby,"

urging young girls to start sexual experiences at an early age, and many

similar songs glorifying antisocial sexual behavior, homosexuality,

indulgence in narcotics and even prostitution. Sometimes we wonder

where the Federal Communications Commission stands on this

subject.

One of our major concerns, however, is the subject matter of your

hearing today, namely, the rapidly growing avalanche and uncontrolled distribution of hard-core pornography to our youth through

paperback books, magazines, and other publications which they can

easily get by mail or through local magazines and bookshops. These

publications are not only smut-ridden in content, but also contain

many lurid come-on ads which impel youngsters to write for and

receive every type of obscene material imaginable.

I have here a rather small collection of some of these publications

received by mail or purchased at local stores by some of our children

that would just simply make your hair curl with their explicit sexual

explorations. Let me just give you the names of two of them for

illustration. Here is Fotorama with a lead article headed, "Girls Who

Pretend To Be Virgins" and Pic magazine with a lead article on
50 OBSCENE AND PANDERING ADVERTISEMENT MAIL MATTER

"Virgins Who Tease Married Men." The others are equally as bad or

worse.

Previous testimony given to your committee—and I have had the

benefit of reading it—shows that mailing list brokers get $25 per

thousand names for a list of adults, but charge $30 per thousand for

a list of teenagers and children, because their response to mail is

much greater. The smut peddlers know this and they prey on our

youth with their.obscene direct-by-mail approaches. This fact is confirmed by the testimony of the Chief Inspector of the Post Office

before your committee that these smut peddlers mail over 20 million

lurid items to children each year, and that smut complaints to his

office have increased 400 percent during the past 4 years.

The results of all of these nefarious influences on the conduct of

our young people are just devastating. Nationally, the figures show

that 30 percent of all those arrested for crimes in 1965 were under the

age of 21; over 20 percent were under the age of 18, and the arrest

rates which are the highest of all were in the 15 to 17 age group.

In our area, particularly our northwest Philadelphia community, we

have made a study of the arrest and remedial contact with the local

police and the juvenile aid officers; and learned that the arrest of

juvenile residents—kids living in our community—for serious crimes,

have jumped over 100 percent since 1961; and arrests for lesser crimes

have risen over 300 percent in the same period. Remedial contacts

with the police—these are just short of arrest—have risen over 80

percent in the past 5 years.

We must remember that these statistics only cover reported occurrences and do not include the many sexual offenses, including rape,

where the parents don't want to expose their daughters to the publicity

of court appearances, and therefore, hush up the occurrence.

We know of the endless debate on the relationship between pornography and crime, but I am satisfied to abide by the opinions of the

many prominent police officials, doctors, and psychiatrists like Dr.

Nicholas Frignito, who is going to appear before you today, that crime

can be definitely linked with pornography.

Outstanding police officials like J. Edgar Hoover and Chicago Police

Supt. 0. W. Wilson are positive about the relationship. Dr. Max

Levin, a prominent neurologist in New York, is very certain about the

relationship, and I have copies of an article that he wrote for one of

the medical magazines. I will be glad to leave you a copy.

Mr. NIX. That will be incorporated in the record.

(The material referred to is as follows:)

A DOCTOR DISCUSSES PORNOGRAPHY

(By Max Levin, M.D.)

Pornography is more than just a social evil. Insofar as it can affect health

(which includes mental and emotional health), it is also a medical evil, and

therefore deserves the attention of the physician.

The topic of this article is not the control of pornography. This is a task for

our courts and our lawmakers. The article will deal with the effects of pornography. These psychologic effects deserve as much attention as the physical effects

of typhoid germs in the water supply.

ARGUMENT DECEPTIVE

The defenders of pornography argue that there is "no proof" that it produces

crime and antisocial behavior. This argument is naive and deceptive. The pres-
OBSCENE AND PANDERING ADVERTISEMENT MAIL MATTER 51

ent is the result of the past. What we do or think at a given moment is the culmination of our whole life history up to that point. When a man commits a crime,

he is responding not only to the situation of the moment but to all the events

of his life, to the conditions of his childhood, to all the traumatic experiences he

has undergone from the day he was born.

In a few instances it is fair to assume a direct connection between obscene

literature and a sex crime, as when the police find a library of sadistic paperbacks in the room of a rapist. But in most cases it would be a thankless job to

try to allocate responsibility among the many factors, remote and immediate,

that might have affected his behavior.

But there is another, and more important, reason to dismiss the argument of

"no proof." A test of pornography that focuses on the rate of crime is the wrong

test.

OVERT BEHAVIOR

There is overt behavior and implicit or internal behavior. Crime is overt

behavior. A man's overt behavior may be impeccable in that he never commits

a crime, he never assaults anyone, yet his internal behavior may be destructive

in that he assaults himself with his distorted notions of sex and his disturbed

sex fantasies, and, in the process, he victimizes those whose lives are intertwined

with his, most of all his wife and children. It is probably no exaggeration to say

that sexual and marital maladjustment causes a sum total of human suffering

greater than cancer and heart disease. The number of people who commit rape

is small, whereas the number of those who suffer from sex problems is enormous.

This, then, is the real test of pornography: does it disturb and pervert the feelings

and attitudes that people have in the realm of sex? Does it foster an unhealthy

conception of the role that sex plays in life?

CONFUSED ATTITUDES

A man and woman vow to love and cherish each other to the end of their days,

but they end up as enemies. Hostility in marriage is a complex matter, and it

cannot a!ways be defined in simple terms, but in many cases it stems from confused

sexual attitudes. Sex ought to be the supreme expression of love and tenderness,

but so often it is no more than a vehicle for the acting out of sadistic impulses.

A husband, for example, fails to satisfy his wife, and study of his problem reveals

that he fancies the sex act not as an act of love, but as a vent for his aggressive

impulses. Can anyone imagine that healthy attitudes are promoted in an impressionable youngster when he devours the paperbacks in which the beautiful

blonde is raped and stabbed and viciously dismembered?

The gravest charge against pornography is not its occasional involvement in

rape and similar dramatic events that make the r4ewspaper headlines. The gravest

charge is the damage it does to the youngster's "image" of sex. Pornography

degrades sex. It blinds the youngster to the higher values of sexuality. It reduces

this noble function to a mere self-indulgence, a plaything with dirty overtones.

connected with smutty words on the walls of the public toilet.

In addition to its biologic purpose, procreation, sex serves a psychologic purpose. It enables a man and wife to reach emotional maturity. The hallmark of

maturity is the capacity to give of oneself. The mature husband and wife live by

the precept, it is more blessed to give than to receive. The act of love is the supreme

example of an interpersonal relationship. The husband and wife must be more

eager to give sexual satisfaction than to receive it.

For the believer in a religious faith—and even for the atheist—sex, in the setting of a happy marriage, is nothing less than sacred. It is altogether 'fitting that

the groom proclaims his intention to his bride in the noble words, "With my body

I thee worship."

One of the characteristics of our people today is the urge to appear sophisticated. True sophistication is a desirable goal, but the image of sophistication that

many people have is a fraud. People hesitate to stand up for decency, for fear

they will be regarded as "squares.' I attended a dinner party where the guests

got into a discussion of the question whether the novel "Fanny Hill" is obscene. I

expressed the opinion that it is, but whether I am right is not the point here. One

of the guests, a mature lady with an interest in noble causes, politely challenged

me. She had read the book and did not find it objectionable. I asked her, "If you

had a 16-year-old daughter, would it disturb you if you saw her come home with

'Fanny Hill' under her arm?" Quickly she replied. "Yes, it would." I said,

"There's your answer." "Oh," she exclaimed, in a state of mild shock, "you caught
52 OBSCENE AND PANDERING ADVERTISEMENT MAIL MATTER

me unawares." I replied, "The truth came out when you spoke unawares." This

woman felt the need to appear sophisticated.

True sophistication implies enlightened self-interest. The day will surely come

when we will be as thoughtful of the literature that reaches the eyes of our youngsters as we are of the germs that enter their lungs, and the genuine sophisticate

is not ashamed to hasten the arrival of that day. The physician is among the civic

leaders of the community and he has a responsibility in this struggle for decency.

Mr. STANDER. Dr. Melvin Heller, who I understand will be here

today, and as you know, he is with the Temple University Medical

and Law Schools, and is a noted prison consultant, believes that such

a relationship exists; but I am going to let him speak for himself.

The National Council of Juvenile Judges adopted a resolution

recently stating, and I quote:

The character of juvenile delinquency has changed as a consequence of the

stimulation of salacious publications, being no longer the mischievous act of

children, but the acts of violence, armed robbery, rape, torture, and even homicide,

for which these vicious publications condition the minds of our children.

With such a preponderance of evidence, can we afford to take any

chances with the welfare of our children? Can we listen to the persons

whom Judge Carroll has characterized as those "living in ivory towers"

who say they are concerned about the freedom of speech?

We must remember that one of our famous Supreme Court Justices

said that the freedom of speech is not a license. It's not freedom to

shout "Fire" in a crowded movie house. The recent Supreme Court

decision which invalidated the statutes of three States which attempted

to suppress the sale and distribution of obscene magazines and books

shows the path for the enactment of valid legislation on this subject

by stating, in its opinion, and I quote:

In none of these cases was there a claim that the statute in question reflected

a specific and limited State concern for juveniles.

This statement, coupled with the Court's reference to the earlier

cases of Prince v. Massachusetts and Butler v. Michigan indicates

strongly that our Supreme Court would uphold obscenity statutes

which were designed to protect juveniles.

I say that the war that's being waged against all decent citizens

and their children by the printers and purveyors of filth and obscenity

is a total war. They are using every weapon in their arsenal, and we

are being attacked by obscene material through television, the movies,

the radio, the paperback books, the sex magazines, the so-called

physical culture magazines, and even by direct mail communications

which come into our homes whether we want them or not. I believe it's

high time that all the decent thinking people who are concerned with

the welfare of the children of today, who will be our leaders of tomorrow, should declare equally total war on these forces of evil which

threaten the fabric of our society. Juvenile crime is rapidly rising,

illegitimate births are rapidly increasing, venereal diseases have

sharply risen, indulgence in homosexuality, addiction to narcotics, and

even prostitution have all become growing national problems among

our youth.

Just what are we waiting for?

Our community council finds the objectives of the bills being

considered by your honorable committee very desirable ones. They will

definitely help stem the flood of filth reaching our homes and, our

children. We endorse them wholeheartedly and hope for their enact-
OBSCENE AND PANDERING ADVERTISEMENT MAIL MATTER 53

ment as a first step in the effort to halt the avalanche of filth before it

engulfs us completely. We also hope that sterner measures are taken

at the National, State, and local level to control the distribution and

sale, and even the printing of noxious material that is perverting the

mind and souls of our youth and causing them to behave, in many

cases, like animals of a lower order.

The youth of our country is our most precious asset, and they must

be prepared to carry forward our civilization when we are gone.

We must do everything in our power to make sure that they will have

the heart, the mind, the power, the moral fiber, and the will to continue

to make this a better world in each succeeding generation.

Again, Mr. Chairman, please accept my thanks and the thanks of

our community council for the privilege of appearing before you.

Mr. Nix. I repeat, Mr. Stander, that you have our very deep and

sincere thanks for being here today. We are very grateful to you.

Let me ask you whether or not in your view the decision of the

Supreme Court has clearly outlined the steps that should be taken

for the kind of legislation that might be found to be constitutional.

Mr. STANDER. Well, as I indicated, the last decision on the subject,

the Redrup case, contained the language which leads to a fair conclusion that if those particular State statutes had expressed a primary

concern for the protection of juveniles, the Supreme Court would

have classed them the same as they do a child labor law or an obscenity

statute that is designed to prevent pandering among children or

juveniles up to a certain stated age.

Now, when they leave such a clear inference in this last decision,

and even refer to the earlier cases where such statutes have been

upheld, I think it is clear that our lawmakers should write appropriate

legislation, and this would be the first step designed to protect children.

Of course, after that, we may find an opening to proceed further,

but this should be our primary concern, because the children of today

are the adults of tomorrow. If we are able to protect them, we give

them a good headstart in life.

Mr. Nix. Thank you.

On our agenda we have a place for the Attorney General of the

United States, and we intend to invite him into our hearings to testify

on this particular point. I am very glad that you pointed that out. I

am glad you gave us your views on the question of whether or not the

Supreme Court is actually now pointing the way toward constitutionality. That's a matter which has been a very, very great concern to

many, many of the members of this subcommittee.

We have before this subcommittee now more legislation than any

other subcommittee of our full committee, and more proposed legislation on this subject than on any other subject for the Post Office and

Civil Service Committee.

Again, I thank you very much for taking the time to come here

today.

Mr. STANDER. Thank you very much.

Mr. Nix. Our next witness will be Dr. Joseph Slap who will testify

as to the connection between obscenity and mental health.

We feel this is an important distinction to see if there is an immediate

result of reading pornography and a sex crime.

Dr. Slap, I understand that you must make a class in the next

hour or so, and we are happy to call on you, and I want to welcome
54 OBSCENE AND PANDERING ADVERTISEMENT MAIL MATTER

you here and say that the subcommittee is grateful for your coming

here and giving us the time that you are going to give.

You may proceed, sir.

STATEMENT BY DR. JOSEPH SLAP, PHILADELPHIA, PA.

Dr. SLAP. Thank you.

Disturbances, conflicts, and aberrations of sexuality lie at the

root of the psychoneuroses and perversions. Sexual problems also

play a major role in the psychoses although here their universality

may be questioned. Sexual maladjustment brings misery to untold

numbers of individuals, often ruining their lives, and brings unhappiness and wreckage to countless marriages.

Therefore it is the concern indeed the duty, of parents to raise

their children in a manner which promotes a healthy sexual orientation and adjustment. A corollary of this duty is that they strive to

protect their children from traumatic influences and experiences.

An important part of this parental responsibility is the handling

of their children's sexual enlightenment. Without exception, workers

in the field of mental health feel the knowledge presented to minors

should be accurate and treated in an objective, realistic manner.

Above all, the attitude toward sexual matters of the informant should

be wholesome and free of any tendency which would cause a child to

connect sex with badness, indecency, guilt, and shame.

Putting aside the question of content for the moment, parents, and

by extension the community, should have the opportunity to review

sexual information given their children as part of their responsibility

of promoting healthy growth.

The offering of printed material with frankly sexual content through

the mails directly to minors would seem to be a deliberate attempt to

nullify such parental efforts. When one considers further that the

material involved may be inaccurate, frightening, perverse, and

vulgar—that it may precipitate or seriously aggravate existing emotional problems in a significant portion of the recipients—then it seems

an outrageous intrusion into the life of the family unit.

The prepubertal child and the already disturbed adolescent are the

most vulnerable to the injurious effects of sexual information which is

inaccurate, frightening, and obscene. However, it is just these minors

who would be apt to be interested in and to seek out pornography.

The relative immunity of the healthier adolescent seems no justification for the exposure of their more susceptible contemporaries to

such material.

Therefore I should endorse legislation designed to interfere with the

distribution of printed matter with frankly sexual content through

the mails directly to minors.

I am confident my position is representative of most psychiatrists

and other mental health workers.

Mr. Nix. Doctor, I thank you very much for your statement.

Do you think that there is an abundance of serious literature dealing with the problem of obscenity and its effect on people generally?

Dr. SLAP. You mean in professional journals?

Mr. Nix. Yes.

Dr. SLAP. There is not an abundance.
OBSCENE AND PANDERING ADVERTISEMENT MAIL MATTER 55

Since originally being contacted by the subcommittee, I spent a

good deal of time in the library, and I found that there was not an

abundance of such material. I think this stems, in part, from the fact

that very often pornography plays a part in a particular case but it

doesn't play such a central role that the articles would be about

pornography per se. I've looked in various indices and books on sexual

offenders going back quite a few years, and I was not able to come up

with very much in the literature on pornography.

Some of what I came up with seemed to discount connections between pornography and crime, implying that the person who was apt

to act out a crime, such as the acting out delinquent, is not a person

who would be apt to read or to even require such stimulation.

This idea was presented in two very extensive studies on sexual

offenders. I have the references here.

My own thought, after looking through the literature and I think

rather thoroughly, was that the be t tack to take is from the mental

hygiene point of view. Parents, after all, should not, in their efforts

to raise their children and to enlighten them sexually, be interfered

with by anybody who wants to send their child mail, and therefore,

legislation might be directed toward any unsolicited material, which

has frankly sexual content in it—whatever the quality of the content.

The fundamental point is that parents, and by extension the community, should have a right to review whatever comes to their minor

children. I think you would then get away from questions, whether

particular publications such as "Lady Chatterley's Lover," are pornography or literature.

I think that when you are dealing with minors, anything with

frankly sexual content should not be sent directly to them; but that

parents, as part of their responsibility to raise their children in a

healthy fashion, should have the right to review anything. Therefor

direct mailing, I think, is very objectionable.

Dr. Frignito tells me that he has a series of about 13 cases in which

he can show a very direct relationship between pornography and

sexual murders, I would like to see him publish these so that it could

be in the literature and could be taken into account alongside some of

the negative findings in the area.

Mr. Nix. Thank you very much, Dr. Slap.

I again want to thank you and express the collective appreciation

of all of the members of this subcommittee for your appearance here

today.

This is a subject of the utmost gravity to all of the members of the

subcommittee and to so many people in the country, and it is indeed

deeply appreciative that you, an authority in your field, have taken

the time to come here and give us the benefit of your thinking.

Thank you very much, Doctor.

Dr. SLAP. Thank you.

Mr. Nix. Our next witness, ladies and gentlemen, is Dr. Nicholas

Frignito.

Will you please take the stand, Dr. Frignito?

I want to say to you, at the outset, that we are deeply appreciative

of the fact that you have come here and that your interest has enabled

you to come here and give us the benefit of your great knowledge on

this subject.

83-792-67—pt. 2-4
56 OBSCENE AND PANDERING ADVERTISEMENT MAIL MATTER

Legislation is long overdue in this field and this subcommittee is

determined to do something about it.

You may proceed, sir.

STATEMENT BY DR. NICHOLAS FRIGNITO, MEDICAL DIRECTOR

AND EXAMINING PSYCHIATRIST IN THE COUNTY COURT OF

PHILADELPHIA

Dr. FRIGNITO. Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, I appreciate this opportunity to address this subcommittee on my position regarding pornography.

I have had the unusual opportunity to observe how pornography

affects our youth in Philadelphia in my position as medical director

and examining psychiatrist in the county court of Philadelphia. In

over 20 years of service in this court I have interviewed and examined

thousands of delinquent boys and girls as well as dependent children

and adults. I have continued to be an examiner in this court.

I have found a significant number of our youth are frequently

involved in sexual misconduct, and that they are impelled into this

by obscene pronographic material, which is readily available from

purveyors of smut.

In the county court of Philadelphia the young boy or girl or adult

who comes to our attention is assailed by smut in their earliest years.

The first contact is in grammar school at the fifth or sixth grade.

They are exposed to indecent pictures such as playing cards on the

reverse sides of which are real men and women pictured in various

types of sexual activity; also cartoon books "two by fours" in which

cartoons of sexually perverse acts are drawn. These items can be purchased by the children. They are passed on by the children to other

children. It is not unusual for children to exchange obscene material.

This exposure often continues through the adolescent years and too

often into adulthood.

What I present here regarding pornography is my experience of

many years in the court; that of other court psychiatrists, psychologists, and other professionals.

Our court statistics each year reveal the tremendous increase in the

number of sexual offenses, such as fornication, sodomy, indecency,

assault, rape, illegitimacy, indecent exposure, and other perverse sex

acts that are committed by minors and adults. Many of these involved

delinquents, and adults admit to the use of pornography. Many

juveniles and adult offenders apprehended for offenses other than

sexual, are frequently involved in sexual misbehavior which can be

directly attributed to the use of pornographic material.

Many of those charged with assault, robbery, larceny, burglary,

carrying concealed and deadly weapons, are also readers or users of

smut, masochistic, sadistic, fetishistic magazines; obscene comic books

and lewd pictures or writings.

A notable increase in homosexual offenses in Philadelphia can be

traced to the availability of magazines devoted to this perversion.

Though there may be minimal physical damage from sexual misconduct, it is a proven medical fact in this community and in most

communities, that the venereal disease rate has increased tremendously

in the past 10 years. Erotic arousal from smut often leads to indecent

personal habits or sexual misconduct.
OBSCENE AND PANDERING ADVERTISEMENT MAIL MATTER 57

There are records in our court of Philadelphia that demonstrate use

of smut at times results in sexually aggressive acts, and in some

dozen cases in our court to homicide. These homicides were committed

by adolescents under the age of 16; in two instances the children

were respectively 7 and 8 years old.

Aggressive delinquents band in small groups and devote considerable

time in perusing and reading smut devoted to sadistic and masochistic

practices. They frequently indulge as a group in these activities

performing all types of perverse sexual acts.

The incident of incestuous assault is high among delinquent girls.

Approximately 30 percent of institutionalized delinquent girls admitted

sexual relations with brothers or fathers or close relatives and that

the majority of these aggressive individuals were readers of smut.

It is my opinion that pornography in any form is vicious and

dangerous to our youth and adult population, for it undermines

moral life. It induces the young to sexual delinquency, the morally

and intellectually weak individual to commit sexually aggressive acts

which may result in killing.

I have no doubt that, sexual perversity and aggressive sexual acts

are increased immeasurably by the use of smut.

I am very much in favor of legislation devised to control the transmission or sale of pornography.

Mr. Nix. Doctor, would you kindly give us a résumé of your

professional qualifications for the record?

Dr. FRIGNITO. Yes, sir.

I am a physician, a graduate of Hahneniann Medical College of

Philadelphia, 1938; I am a diplomate of the American Board of Neurology and Psychiatry, a clinical professor of neurology at Hahnemann

Medical College and Hospital. My primary work is medical director

and chief psychiatrist of the county court of Philadelphia. I am a

member of the American Psychiatric Association; American Medical

Association, Pennsylvania State Psychiatric Society, and the Philadelphia Psychiatric Society.

Mr. Nix. Doctor, your observations clearly indicate to you that

there was a definite connection between pornography and sex crimes?

Dr. FRIGNITO. Yes, sir. There is, yes.

Mr. Nix. I'm deeply grateful for your presence here today, Doctor,

and I can assure you that your statement makes a great contribution

to the study of this committee.

I thank you very much, Doctor.

Our next witness is Dr. Konietzko. Have you a prepared statement

Doctor?

Dr. KONIETZKO. No. I have some remarks that I would like to

make.

The CHAIRMAN. We'd be happy to have you proceed in any way

you wish.

STATEMENT BY DR. KURT 0. KONIETZKO, CLINICAL

PSYCHOLOGIST

Dr. KONIETZKO. Thank you. It will be a relatively short statement. I am sure that you heard many witnesses and have heard

many opinions. All of these opinions are from experts or informed

or knowledgeable people, each one of whom speaks from his own par-
58 OBSCENE AND PANDERING ADVERTISEMENT MAIL MATTER

ticular frame of reference; by that I mean his training, his background,

and his professional affiliations.

As a result, any viewpoint you hear will be biased and clouded by

his own personality and by his own experiences.

I speak from my own prejudices, which include approximately 12

years working in two penal systems and as head of the Philadelphia

Parole District Office for the State for approximately 5 years. Here I

also dealt with narcotic offenders and sex offenders.

The issue of pornography or obscenity is one that's been debated,

defined, redefined, questioned, argued back and forth with very little

proof of any direct causality ever having been established as far as I

know.

What one finds, as indicated by the previous speaker, is that there

are some people who read pornography who also commit crimes, who

also do many other things.

One does not say, for instance, that if a person goes to church and

also reads pornography, that the pornography is, therefore, the cause

of his going to church; but if the same individual commits a crime and

also reads pornography, it is conclusively established, therefore, that

this person's reading of pornography caused the crime. I think this

is illogical and completely mistaken.

The fact is that Herbert Fish, who is known as one of the worst

sex criminals in the annals of crime, got his inspiration for the castration of youngsters from reading the Old Testament. There are other

criminals who are just as bloodthirsty, if you wish to call them that,

or just as sick and disturbed who also have read or have been inspired

by such things as the DeMille's film "The Ten Commandments."

What I am getting at is, the matter of obscenity and the arousal

of impulses of one kind or another is a highly individual matter. One

can view a painting and call it obscene, while another sees the same

painting without any sexual implications whatsoever. This is largely

a matter of cultural training and cultural values.

I think you will find that if a division along religious and moral

rather than scientific grounds is made, those who oppose "smut"

will inevitably come from certain religious backgrounds while those

who favor less restraint are in the liberal camp. Neither group has

clearly defined "smut."

You are really dealing with a very difficult job. You have my

sympathies.

I am not sure whether the best protection ever is in legislation in

the terms of the rights of the individual. Here again I would need a

definition first. I would like to know what the law proposes. What is

hard pornography? Hard pornography, as I have seen it in terms of

what can be purchased, is very boring. It is not at all interesting, not

even arousing in a sense. In writing it is characterized by highly

repetitive scenes and it is this kind of writing which is pornographic

rather than exotic-realism. In creative erotic-realism, writing is really

there as part of the overall story or plot and is not pornographic.

In terms of pictures, they can be erotic or not depending on who

views them. A nudist magazine is not erotic if one approaches it with

that view in mind. All it does is to depict people without clothing on,

and I assure you, if everyone went around without clothing for 1

month you would have very little pornography available, nor would
OBSCENE AND PANDERING ADVERTISEMENT MAIL MATTER 59

you have any increase in crime, because most individuals are not

sexually enthralled with nudity.

All we have to do is look in the mirror. We are not exactly the most

perfect human specimens, and this is why pornography usually highlights highly seductive, very attractive females and males.

In addition, criticism of smut is sometimes very poorly directed. It

deals with a novel which is labeled as being obscene because it uses

four-letter words, four-letter words which are part of the American

language and the reality of life. I do not consider this a legitimate

criticism.

Furthermore, the kind of pornography that is provided is the result

of the taste of the public, reflecting their interests and psychological

problems. Sexual crimes are not the result of pornography but rather

the expression of the individual's personality. They are psychologically

sick and seek out this kind of stimulation. Therefore, forbidding this

kind of stimulation is not going to correct their personality nor will it

prevent them from committing crimes.

In previous testimony and in much other testimony you will have

here, you will hear that so-and-so did this and he read pornography

or admitted to it. There has been no evaluation made as to the

suggestability of the subject, the influence of the examiner on the subject, or whether the subject agrees with the examiner. Most of these

statements are highly unscientific. No controlled studies have been

made and no real evidence of a scientific nature have I been able to

disco ver.

So, the subject is largely a matter of hearsay and opinion, and opinions are not facts. There is a difference between a medical fact, and a

psychological fact or an opinion, however informed it might be. I

think the reliFious background of any individual has a great deal to

do with his view of the subject matter.

If I choose to have this kind of information, because of my own

psychological problems, I believe I should be able to procure it. There

is some evidence that pornography has a therapeutic release for many

people in our culture which is not sexually enlightening even in the

20th century, and where many religious values are undergoing change.

I refer you to the Quaker sect and to many writings of the Anglican

church where the relationship between two human beings is the prime

consideration and not the sexual act specifically. The change in this

direction, I think, that one has to keep in mind is that our culture is

changing and laws are only designed to remove something. They are

not designed to cure anything or prevent anything from happening,

which would really be a poor law as far as I am concerned.

I would like to see on the books the possibility that if I do not

wish to receive mail from a particular sender, and he refuses to

comply with my wishes, that I could inform the Post Office Department who then could inform him if he did not comply he would face

certain penalties. So, every, time he would send me some unsolicited,

undesirable mail, I would turn it over to the postal authorities, and

there ought to be a fine which would go into effect which would make

it very unprofitable for him to send it to me.

Mr. Nix. Doctor, we have legislation along that line pending before

the subcommittee now, and I think that proposed legislation was

introduced by Mr. Cunningham.
60 OBSCENE AND PANDERING ADVERTISEMENT MAIL MATTER

Is that correct, Mr. Kennedy?

Mr. KENNEDY (counsel). Right, sir.

Mr. Nix. Mr. Cunningham, one of the members of our subcommittee has introduced that.

We have gone into extensive discussions of the features of that bill.

We are now engaged in determining or seeking to determine its

constitutionality; that's the only thing that's holding it up.

Doctor, would you describe your professional qualifications?

Dr. KONIETZKO. Yes. I am a clinical psychologist; I am a member

of the American Psychological Association of Pennsylvania; I was

certificated for private practice in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; I am a member of the Delaware Valley Psychotherapy Association and the American Group Psychotherapy Association; I am a

member of other groups including correction organizations such as the

National Council of Crime, and I have been in the clinical area for

quite a few years, approximately 14; I have been in private practice

for about 2 years, basically about 1 year in private practice; prior to

that I spent about 6 years with the parole system and approximately

another 6 years with various correction institutions.

In all that time, I have never seen any direct relationship between

reading pornography and committing a crime of any kind.

I have seen certain people select pornography as a solution to their

problems, just as I have seen other people read philosophy as a solution to their problems. I have seen people in institutions carrying

around volumes on philosophy who couldn't even read. This doesn't

mean their reading of philosophy led them to crime.

I think the association of the two factors doesn't prove anything.

Mr. Nix. Doctor, we have persons appear before the subcommittee

who took the position that pornography serves no useful purpose, and

therefore, since it might invoke certain illegal acts or might create in

the mind of the reader certain desires, might lead to crime, it should

be banned.

What do you think of that view?

Dr. KONIETZKO. I think that they are back in the 19th century.

The fact is that the human being, including the child, is a sexual

animal, contrary to what anyone wishes to think. This is an established

fact. We are part of the animal kingdom overall, and we are sexual.

One of the major problems in this country and practically all over

the world to one extent or another, is that we have attempted to

deny the biology of the human being in the sexual area. This creates

many, many problems for which many people find pornography, to

some extent, an answer.

I do not suggest that this is the best answer, but in view of any

other sexual outlets masturbation or sexual fantasy for sexual relief

is not a terrible thing. It may be better than if that person went

around doing other strange things, because the actual pornographer,

the one who really purchases it by the bundle, hardly ever has done

any of these things in public. He doesn't exhibit himself in public.

He doesn't read pornography in public and then masturbate in public.

He does this in the privacy of his own room or home.

Maybe I would agree that this is not the healthiest attitude for

anyone to have. It would be much better if he had a real sexual relationship with a real woman, but apparently because he has these

problems he is unable to approach a woman and establish a satis-
OBSCENE AND PANDERING ADVERTISEMENT MAIL MATTER 61

factory relationship—maybe he will never get married—but this

does not mean that pornography caused his problems. He is reading

pornography because he has these problems. I think this is the relationship.

So, there is, in fact, a considerable amount of relief, basically of a

therapeutic nature, for people who have many sexual problems. I

think this is one of the facts that we are dealing with in a country

where many, many people have many, many different kinds of problems, which can be very easily demonstrated simply by the consumption of tranquilizers. There are 5 million alcoholics, and I believe 20

million prescriptions for barbiturates, 6 million for Amphetimine. We

have approximately a hundred thousand drug addicts, a million people

who cannot control alcohol, eating, smoking, or other personal habits.

We are really dealing with a small subgroup of the American population

that has a problem; it happens that this problem is in the sexual area.

Other people may eat because they have no sexual relationship or

they may do some other things. They don't happen to read pornography.

Mr. Nix. Many witnesses who have appeared before us reminded

us of the great increase in the last 5 years in sexual crimes, and

they attribute the increase to pornography.

Now, at our next hearing, we intend to have witnesses who will

seek to advise us as to whether or not the increase in the crime rate

is actually just that or whether or not it seems to be an increase because

of the population explosion. We want figures to substantiate the assertion that these sex crimes have increased, and we have placed on the

agenda for the appearance of quite a number of outstanding people

in the field, but I am particularly intrigued with your testimony,

Doctor, because it represents a view that is at variance with the

general view, and that is something that is healthy and something

that this subcommittee is greatly in need of, and I'm deeply thankful

to you for coming here today and giving us the benefit of your views.

Dr. KONIETZKO. Thank you.

Mr. Nix. Thank you very much, Doctor.

This subcommittee will stand in recess until 2 o'clock this afternoon.

(Whereupon, a recess was taken at 12 noon.)

AFTERNOON SESSION

Mr. Nix. The subcommittee will come to order.

The subcommittee is happy to welcome the next witness, Mr.

William F. Lawrence, Associate General Counsel of the Post Office

Department, Washington, D.C.

We are very glad that you are able to come up and give us the

benefit of your testimony, Mr. Lawrence.

You may proceed.

STATEMENT BY HON. WILLIAM F. LAWRENCE, ASSOCIATE

GENERAL COUNSEL, POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT

Mr. LAWRENCE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We are very happy to

be here.

We are very pleased to have this opportunity to discuss with your

subcommittee the perennial problem of offensive advertising in the

mails. As you know, the Post Office Department, more than any other,
62 OBSCENE AND PANDERING ADVERTISEMENT MAIL MATTER

is concerned with this problem since it provides the means for convey- ing the advertisements from the unscrupulous, or at best, careless,

promoter to the unsuspecting householder.

Year in and year out, tens of thousands of complaints are made• to

the Post Office Department of mail-order advertisements which have

shocked and offended the recipients. It is inevitable, in view of the widely diverse backgrounds of the residents of the United States, that

some are more easily offended than others by the type of advertising

that comes to them in the mails. However, the bulk of the complaints

from the public are, I believe, well justified, considering the flamboyant nature of the advertisements, the fact that they are unsolicited,

and the ever-present danger of their exposure to youngsters in the

homes which are subjected to this kind of promotion.

The only statutory weapons available to the Department to deal with the erotic materials are the statutory provisions for criminal

prosecution, 18 U.S.C. 1461, and for administrative proceedings, 39

U.S.C. 4006, which authorizes the Postmaster General to issue an

"unlawful" order against those using the mails to advertise and

furnish obscenity. As a practical matter, however, we are limited to

the criminal statute in our enforcement efforts.

In the case of Manual Enterprises v. Day, 370 U.S. 478 (1962), the

Supreme Court questioned the authority of the Postmaster General

to engage in administrative censorship, and it has been the policy

of the Department under Postmaster General O'Brien and his two

immediate predecessors to avoid such censorship activities by the

Department, leaving it to the courts to decide the issue in cases

brought before them under the criminal statute.

This has proved to be an effective approach to the enforcement

problem and has avoided legal objections to the administrative

procedure. The administrative proceeding, however, has been an

effective device for curtailing the flow of pornography from foreign

countries. The constitutional questions raised in the Manual case do

not obtain with respect to mail from foreign countries.

In Roth v. United States, 354 U.S. 476 (1957), the basic test for

obscenity was laid down by the Supreme Court in terms of that which

to the average person, applying contemporary community standards,

predominantly appeals to the prurient interest. The judgment as to

standards of the community can best be made by the members of the

jury in each case, and the benefit of a jury is provided the accused

when we resort to criminal prosecution rather than the administrative

process.

The Founding Fathers of our Nation wisely protected the citizen in

the privacy of his home by the constitutional protection against the

unreasonable searches and seizures. A stranger may not enter one's

home uninvited. But the stranger may inject himself into one's home

by using the postal system. If he uses the outside of the mailing piece

to record his defamatory, scurrilous, or indecent expression, the postmaster may observe this and withhold it from delivery as a violation

of either the defamatory statute, section 1718 of title 18, United States

Code, or of the law which prohibits indecent matter on the outside

cover of mail, section 1463 of title 18.

However, if the writing is sent in an envelope under seal as firstclass matter, the postmaster has no opportunity or authority to

examine the contents, and must deliver the mail without delay.
OBSCENE AND PANDERING ADVERTISEMENT MAIL MATTER 63

More to the point, however, is the fact that most of the advertising

material complained of, although quite offensive in itself, still does not

meet the tests for obscenity laid down by the Supreme Court. That

being the case, the Department is powerless to move against the

purveyors of the overwhelming majority of materials about which

there is complaint.

So, the Department is in the uncomfortable position of assisting the

advertiser in reaching into the homes of many citizens who are affronted by the advertising which they see once the mail is delivered

to them.

The question that faces us then is whether, short of criminal prosecution for mailings of obscenity, there is anything that the Post Office

Department can do to eliminate or at least reduce the traffic in objectionable but nonobscene materials.

In the 89th Congress, H.R. 980 was approved by the House,

establishing a procedure whereby the Postmaster General would

implement the desires of the complaining addressee by resorting to

the injunctive process in the Federal courts.

This bill, in effect, substituted the judgment of the addressee as to

what constitutes obscenity for the tests laid down by the Supreme

Court. Our Department, as well as the Department of Justice, filed

objections to this bill, which was not taken up for passage by the

Senate.

In any legislative attempt to impede the free circulation of printed

matter, particularly in the area of sex-related materials, we are

confronted with the strict constitutional limitations laid down by the

Supreme Court in the series of cases running from Roth v. U.S. in

1957, down through Ginzburg v. U.S. in March of last year.

Ginzburg v. U.S. was one of three obscenity cases decided by the

Supreme Court on the same day last year. Another was Mishkin v.

New York (383 U.S. 502), and the third was Memoirs v. Massachusetts

(383 U.S. 413). In Memoirs, the Court emphasized once more the

constitutional requirement of proof that the offending material is

"utterly without redeeming social value" before it can be declared

obscene under the law. The book in this case, "Memoirs of a Woman

of Pleasure"—also known as "Fanny Hill"—was found to appeal

predominantly to a prurient interest in sex, and to be patently offensive because it affronts contemporary standards relating to the

description or representation of sexual matters; but the lower court

was reversed because it had failed to find that the book was also

utterly without redeeming social value. The Supreme Court said:

A book cannot be proscribed unless it is found to be utterly without redeeming

social value. This is so even though the book is found to possess the requisite

prurient appeal and to be patently offensive. Each of the three Federal constitutional criteria is applied independently; the social value of the book can neither

be weighed against nor canceled by its prurient appeal or patent offensiveness.

Hence, even on the view of the court below that Memoirs possessed only a

modicum of social value, its judgment must be reversed as being found on an

erroneous interpretation of a Federal constitutional standard.

I cite this language of the Court to demonstrate the lengths to

which we must go before excluding offensive sex materials from the

mails. One of our most treasured rights under the Constitution is

the right of free speech and free press.
64 OBSCENE AND PANDERING ADVERTISEMENT MAIL MATTER

What is objectionable to some may be acceptable to others; the

clear teaching of these obscenity cases in the Supreme Court is that

we may not legally prohibit publications merely because they offend

the general populace.

It is necessary to establish that the materials are completely devoid

of redeeming social value. In meeting that test, the Supreme Court in

the Ginzburg case provided a useful tool by holding that the presence

or absence of a social value may be determined according to the style

of advertising employed by the seller.

In so ruling the Supreme Court showed concern for those who are

exposed to objectionable advertising. At page 470, it made the following observations on this point:

The deliberate representation of petitioner's publications as erotically arousing

for example, stimulated the reader to accept them as prurient; he looks for titillation, not for saving intellectual content. Similarly, such representation would tend

to force public confrontation with the potentially offensive aspects of the work; the

brazenness of such an appeal heightens the offensiveness of the publications to

those who are offended by such material.

And the circumstances of presentation and dissemination of material are

equally relevant to determining whether social importance claimed for material

in the courtroom was, in the circumstances, pretense or reality—whether it was

the basis upon which it was traded in the marketplace or a spurious claim for

litigation purposes.

Despite the help which the Ginzburg case provides for successful

prosecutions of obscenity, the various court decisions on this subject

still mean that only a small range of sex-oriented material can be

restrained by laws. They mean that a large amount of material, in

the form of printed word, pictures, movies, records, the theater, about

which there is complaint cannot be constrained by criminal sanctions;

that this form of human expression is protected by the Constitution.

This is not a surprising result. Anyone who tries to deal with this

problem is immediately faced with a most difficult semantical challenge: trying to define and limit with words perhaps the most profound and mysterious of human experiences—where the variety of

experience is as numerous as there are people; and where the individual reaction to a specific stimulus has infinite variety. What the

Supreme Court has attempted to do is reduce the problem to the

lowest common denominator; to a residuum that the average normal

person would agree is objectionable, harmful, tending toward social

disorder, or of no significant value in leading to the discovery of truth.

We have no machines that can measure this quantum; no scientific

tests to apply; we have in the final analysis, only the judgment of

human bangs—a judgment inescapably subjective and personal.

Confronted with such difficulty, the courts should not be criticized

because they have so rarely found matter to be obscene; rather, they

should be congratulated that they have been able to do it at all. I think

much of the criticism directed to the courts here today is unfounded.

I think it folly to fault the courts for some of society's failures.

A study of history shows a continually recurring pattern for each

society of sexual discovery, sexual license, sexual depravity and perversion, and then sexual repression. It used to take several centuries for

this cycle to complete itself.

Today, mass communications technology has made it possible to

compress this cycle into a much briefer span. It likewise makes it

much more difficult for society to protect itself, to contain and retard
OBSCENE AND PANDERING ADVERTISEMENT MAIL MATTER 65

the deteriorating effects that sexual license has inevitable visited upon

every society that has experienced it.

How can society control it? History reveals no example where

censorship laws provided any effective answer. Quite the contrary.

Illicit sexual treatment thrives under censorship; its appeal is heightened. The quickest way to assure commercial success for a book or

movie is to try to ban it as obscene.

The new idea; the different concept; the new theology philosophy,

science--these have been the traditional victims of censorship.

This Nation has never embraced censorship as a proper course.

No one can seriously argue that the present standard of obscenity

constitutes censorship. Censorship entails an invasion of constitutionally protected expression. And with good reason the courts

have held there is no constitutional protection for the expression of

obscenity.

But to attempt to legislate a broader standard for obscenity would

merely be tantamount to reformulating or redefining today's test;

as well as being a vain act. And to advocate a narrower approach to

obscenity than that now laid down by the courts would create serious

censorship or first amendment problems. Therefore, we do not think

the answer lies in that direction.

We do think something can and should be done to halt the suffusion

of sex upon a protesting and objecting populace, and the saturation

of our children with sexual fantasy during their adolescence. In

short, if adults want to read, look at, and experience this sexual bath,

I do not think there is anything we can do about it.

A free society compels that specific freedom. On the other hand, a

100-foot long billboard celebrating sexual union is something a free

society need not tolerate, because those of us who do not want to see

such public displays have no choice; it is thrust upon us; our privacy

is invaded.

Likewise, our postal patrons who do not want sex-oriented material

to be sent to them or their children through the mails ought to be

able to do something to prevent it. And we are not simply talking

about material that meets the court definition of obscenity—it is

already a crime to mail such material. We are talking about the

material received by some 200,000 complainants in 1966. With rare

exception, that material failed to meet the tests for obscenity.

How many more patrons received such material, found it objectionable, but did not make a complaint? One can only guess. On the

other hand, it is safe to assume that many recipients of this material

did not find it objectionable; wanted to receive it; in fact, ordered

the merchandise offered for sale.

Perhaps we must necessarily think in terms of accommodating both

groups. Where the materials in question are not obscene, they are

protected by the guarantee of free speech. And those who want to

receive such materials, consequently, have a right to receive them.

These same materials, however, are objectionable to many, particularly when sent to their children.

In our view, it would seem that this group has an equal right to

purge such materials from their own mail and the mail of their children.

Is it not a breach of their right to privacy when such materials are

sent into their homes against their wishes?

(
66 OBSCENE AND PANDERING ADVERTISEMENT MAIL MATTER

Social scientists, psychologists and moral theologians will probably

debate forever the question of Whether such nonobscene, sex-oriented

materials have a corrupting influence upon youth.

Nevertheless, in this country, it is still the responsibility and the

right of the parents to provide for the moral training of their children.

It is their decision that counts. If parents believe that sex-oriented

materials will produce a harmful result on their children, it is their

right and responsibility to screen such material for their children.

Parents, therefore, understandably look to the State to support

them in prohibiting the importation of sex-oriented materials into their

home where those parents have made it perfectly clear that they do

not want such materials sent to their children.

Parents cannot keep this mail matter away from their homes by

themselves. Mailers continually ignore their pleas to remove their

names from mailing lists.

I should make it very clear that the Post Office Department is in

the business of delivering mail—a full-time job. We make poor

censors. We do not think we are the proper agency to decide what

people should read or write. On the other hand, we do not want to be

the unwitting agency for delivering into people's homes sexually

offensive material that the patron has clearly stated he does not

want.

Mr. Chairman, we think that H.R. 8215, with which you are

thoroughly familiar, offers the Congress an opportunity to be responsive to the express needs of parents throughout the United States.

H.R. 8215 would make it a penal violation for a mailer to send

matter offering to sell material of an erotic, sexual nature to an

addressee who had previously notified the mailer he did not want to

receive such material in the mails.

The bill is deliberately phrased in keeping with the Ginzburg case

to cover only that advertising matter which is intended for commercial

exploitation of sexually provocative matters.

This legislation will require the determination that the particular

mailing piece comes within the category of pandering advertisements

as that term is used in the Ginzburg case. And if so, an order would

issue to the mailer and its successors and assigns which would advise

the mailer to delete the names of the addressees involved from all

mailing lists owned or controlled by the sender or his agents or assigns.

Moreover, such order would further prohibit the sender and his

agents or assigns from the sale, rental, exchange or other transaction

involving mailing lists bearing the names of the certain designated

addressees. The order would additionally caution mailers that any

further mailing of such matter after 30 days from date of receipt of

such order would be a violation of the Federal criminal code.

It is significant to note that in a prosecution for violation of such an

order the mailer could raise the issue whether the prohibited material

was a pandering advertisement. Also, the mailer could successfully

defend where he could show that the addressee solicited the particular

advertising matter.

Most importantly, the mailer could have the benefit of a jury's

decision on these issues. It would appear this would be in keeping with

the requirements of due process.

Under H.R. 8215 the addressees would submit mailing pieces to the

Postmaster General, requesting that the mailer be ordered not to
OBSCENE AND PANDERING ADVERTISEMENT MAIL MATTER 67

send further unsolicited matter relating to sex to the addressee. We

would examine the particular mailing piece to be certain that it does

relate to sex, and is within the pandering concept of the Ginzburg case.

If so, and if there is no evidence that it was matter solicited by the

addressee, an order would issue to the mailer by the Postmaster

General's designee via registered mail or certified mail—obtaining

delivery receipt. The order would issue to the mailer and its successors

and assigns.

The order essentially would advise the mailer to remove the

addressee's name from its mailing list, and caution that any further

mailings to the addressee relating to sex, after 30 days from the date

of receipt of the order, would be violative of the Federal criminal code.

We would also advise the mailer that the order would be nullified

if it can be shown that the addressee in fact solicited the matter relating

to sex. The order would apply to individually addressed matter as well

as matter addressed to occupant at the subject address.

Upon receiving evidence from the addressee that he received matter

relating to sex in violation of the POD order, and upon being satisfied

the matter does actually relate to sex and was not solicited by the

addressee, we would then refer the case to the Department of Justice

for consideration.

It is interesting to note that H.R. 8215 is preventative rather than

remedial. It is intended to stop mailings of sex-oriented matter to those

who do not want it, and not to punish any mailer for conveyance of

the same matter to those who make no objection. We believe the

services of this Department never were intended to subject a person

to forced receipt of indecencies. To assert otherwise would be an unconscionable distortion of the various legislative and constitutional

purposes in guaranteeing basic human rights to all.

The provisions of this legislation would promote and safeguard the

right of a parent to protect his home from damaging moral influences,

yet at the same time it would not punish the mailer for dissemination

of the same matter to those who make no objection. The bill simply

treats both mailer and addressee with relative equal rights. For example, it is not a restraint on publication nor does it deny a mailer

right to use the mails, and at the same time it protects the addressee's

constitutional rights by affording him a device to stop being the captive audience for objectionable material.

We have on the one hand the right of an individual to prevent

entrance of indecencies in his home. It seems to us that H.R. 8215

would be a reasonable and practicable reconciliation of these opposing

rights to services of the Post Office Department.

Finally, Mr. Chairman, we cannot, of course, say that such a legislative scheme is entirely free from constitutional doubt. It may constitute an abridgment of constitutionally protected speech, even

though very limited. If so, hopefully, this abridgment would be found

to be warranted by the patron's right to secure the privacy of his

home against the invasion of unwanted pandering advertisements.

The present laws on obscenity in the mails have already substantially curtailed commercial traffic in obscene matter via the mail.

Mr. Miller will detail to the subcommittee the successful efforts of the

Post Office Department in the detection and prosecution of those

selling obscene materials through the mail.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
68 OBSCENE AND PANDERING ADVERTISEMENT MAIL MATTER

Mr. Nix. Mr. Lawrence, thank you very much.

Would you give me your opinion as to how widely spread the

complaints against this type of mail are?

Mr. LAWRENCE. I think Mr. Miller would be more capable of

answering that, Mr. Chairman. But I will say that the complaints

rose in the past 5 or 6 years from about 50,000 to over 200,000 complaints annually, and they come from every part of the country.

Mr. Nix. Would you have any objection to having the Administrative Procedure Act applied to the future obscenity case?

Mr. LAWRENCE. Which type cases, sir?

Mr. Nix. Well, this type.

Mr. LAWRENCE. We are speaking about H.R. 8215. I think it

would be too burdensome and have no useful value to administration

of the law. And to apply the Administrative Procedure Act provisions

to a criminal statute would render chaotic the administration of such

law by Government, courts, and juries.

Also to improve the Administrative Procedure Act in the provisions of a law in the nature of H.R. 8215 would be tantamount to

inflicting economic suicide on the Post Office Department.

For example, the only questions to be determined are (1) whether

the matter was solicited, and (2) whether the advertising matter is

pandering or sexually oriented material within the view of the Ginzburg case. We know the U.S. attorneys will not consider any action

unless we can carry the burden in the two questions, and of course,

the grand jury will not indict unless it also is satisfied that the matter

constitutes pandering within the Ginzburg concept, and the mailing

was not solicited. Also, that the U.S. attorney would be more than

willing to quash any proceeding where the respondent or defendant

could show that the mailing was solicited.

The mailers could conceivably demand a hearing under the Administrative Procedure Act in every case where the Department

issues an order under H.R. 8215. In view of the number of complaints

we got last year—over 200,000—we are speaking of many millions of

dollars. Our Bureau of Finance gave us a figure some years ago that

hearings beyond Washington, D.C. approximate $600 for a mere 1-day

hearing. Moreover, to meet the additional caseload, the Department

would require considerable additional attorneys and hearing examiners.

I am sure your colleagues on the Appropriations Committee would

frown upon these additional costs.

Mr. Nix. Now, of course, no one except the Supreme Court can

say whether it's constitutional or not, but don't you think that this

proposed legislation more nearly than any legislation that has been

presented and that is pending for consideration, don't you think it

more nearly meets the type of legislation that might well be constitutional?

Mr. LAWRENCE. Indeed, yes, Mr. Chairman. We have a recent

declaration from the U.S. Supreme Court in the Redrup et al. case,

decided this past May 8, where the Court practically said the complainants should have argued the pandering concept under Ginzburg

and to bring out the fact that the exhibits were getting in the hands of

juveniles. I think that H.R. 8215 is in keeping with the Supreme Court

declarations in the Redrup case.
OBSCENE AND PANDERING ADVERTISEMENT MAIL MATTER 69

Mr. Nix. Thank you very much. I appreciate very much the fact

that you have come here today.

Mr. LAWRENCE. Thank you, sir.

Mr. Nix. Now, our next witness is Mr. Charles Miller, Director

of Fraud and Mailability Investigations Division, Bureau of Chief

Postal Inspector.

You may proceed, Mr. Miller.

STATEMENT BY CHARLES MILLER, DIRECTOR, FRAUD AND MAILABILITY INVESTIGATIONS DIVISION, BUREAU OF POSTAL CHIEF

INSPECTOR, POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT

Mr. MILLER. Mr. Chairman, Mr. Montague, the chief postal inspector, regrets very much he is unavoidably unable to be here today,

and I in turn am happy to represent the inspection service.

Mr. Nix. Thank you.

Mr. MILLER. Mr. Chairman, the subject of your hearings, unsolicited obscene advertising in the mails, is, I can assure you, one of

deep and constant concern to the postal inspection service. As you

know, this service serves as the investigating arm of the Postmaster

General and is specifically responsible by law for the investigation of all

alleged postal crimes including the use of the mails in the advertising

and/or distribution of obscene matter. Although so-called postal crimes

encompass a broad spectrum of statutory offenses, including such criminal acts as mail fraud and mail theft, the subject of your present hearings—unsolicited obscene advertising in the mails—has engendered a

much more rapid increase in mail patron complaint in recent years

than any other type of protested activity reaching this service.

Mail patron complaints in the area of obscene and offensive mailings

ultimately reach the inspection service since they may be violative

of a criminal statute and postal inspectors, while objective in the

performance of their duties, are not so impersonal in their work as

to be totally insensitive to the shock and distress felt by many at

the intrusion of such material into their homes by virtue of the

mailbox.

As you may know, postal inspectors present the evidence resulting

from their investigations to the U.S. attorneys, and, if prosecution is

authorized, effect arrests and the evidence is presented to the courts.

We also cooperate closely with the local law enforcement authorities,

and, in applicable cases, refer evidence of related State violations to

the local district attorneys.

That we have investigated continuously, and we believe effectively,

in this area since the enactment of the first postal obscenity statute

in 1865, is reflected by the numerous landmark Supreme Court

decisions resulting from our investigations. One might begin with the

Rosen case in 1896 and move on up to the more modern era of Roth

in 1957, and of course, the Ginzburg case in 1966. In the last two cases

mentioned, the Supreme Court again affirmed the constitutionality

of the statute and established additional guidelines as to what is or

is not legally obscene. Mr. Lawrence has discussed at some length

the legal aspects of the current controlling court decisions.

As an example of our investigative effort in this area, it can be

reported that during the past 5 fiscal years alone, 1962 through 1966,

we conducted 76,054 investigations with respect to the alleged mailing
70 OBSCENE AND PANDERING ADVERTISEMENT MAIL MATTER

of obscene matter. A total of 3,101 individuals have been convicted

either in Federal or State courts on the basis of these investigations.

Complaints from the public, the majority relating to mailings

personally offensive to addressees, but not of themselves intrinsically

obscene under current legal guidelines, rose from 52,263 in 1962 to

197,277 in 1966. Most of the complaints pertain to the indiscriminate

mailings of a relatively few nationwide dealers. These yearly figures

in chart form are included in my statement. I will not read the chart.

The trend in commercialized mail-order obscenity has switched

to some extent from photos and film toward books, magazines, and

other publications. This stems from two principal causes. Pornography

in photo form is more readily distinguishable as such by the courts

than is that cloaked in printed form.

The mail order dealer in hard-core pornography of the photo type

can generally anticipate a fairly short freedom expectancy.

With printed matter, however, he can play upon the constitutional

guarantee of freedom of expression, and the protection pointed out

in Roth with respect to ideas of even the slightest redeeming social

importance.

Additionally, the advent of the instant photo developing camera

has made pornographic photos readily available to any who care to

produce them themselves. One need no longer respond to mail-order

offers to have such material. This is not to say that the mails are no

longer used in the covert distribution of hard-core pornographic

pictures. Rather, we have found that large mass dealers consider it

less chancy to deal in material of a borderline nature.

The largest single commercial source of hard-core pornography

reaching our mail stream today is very probably the Randolph ring

based in Canada. This group has mailed at least several hundred

thousand very lewd, unsolicited advertisements into and from within

the United States during the recent years. If ordered, the hard-core

material reaches the purchaser by mail from Canada. The ring has

met with difficulties of late, however. Thirteen members, four in this

country, have been arrested. This has resulted from our coordinated

efforts with the Canadian authorities who have been vigorously

pursuing this organization.

Our inspectors have testified at Canadian proceedings. Additionally,

the General Counsel has issued some 30 foreign unlawful orders

designed to stem the flow of money to this group's frequently changing

mailing addresses in Canada and in Sweden.

The persistence demonstrated by this ring, in face of the frequent

arrests, indicates clearly the profit to be made in this business. They

are resourceful as well. To circumvent unlawful orders directed at

mail receiving addresses in Canada their advertisements at times

request that funds be sent to intermediaries in Sweden. Should the

order be large, the purchaser may be felt out initially by long-distance

telephone and on rare occasion even by personal visit.

While the covert distribution of hard-core pornography remains a

problem, our major problem arises from the indiscriminate and

unsolicited direct-mail advertising of a relatively few large dealers

offering material in the gray or borderline category. They are mailing

an estimated volume of possibly 20 million pieces of such advertising

each year and nearly all operate from the Los Angeles or New York

City areas. By keeping their advertisements and products hopefully
OBSCENE AND PANDERING ADVERTISEMENT MAIL MATTER 71

within the legally safe, gray, borderline area of obscenity, they try

to titillate the interests of those susceptible, yet avoid prosecution.

Desire for profit, coupled with the knowledge that profits increase in

direct proportion to the degree of "prurient interest appeal" that can

be injected into the material, tempt them to continually probe and

test.

These dealers employ many guises in exploiting the erotic marketplace. Their offerings may take the form of publications falsely

alleged to be those of bona fide nudist organizations; of books which,

although devoted solely to genitalia sex and stressing the most depraved deviant-type practices, are thinly cloaked as a serious medical

or cultural study of books and other writings detailing the most

intimate descriptions of sexual promiscuity and perversion but relying on the faint suggestion of a plot to escape court condemnation.

Possibly most shocking to postal patrons are advertisements of

so-called sex aids presented as being of bona fide medical value.

The use of mailing lists is fundamental in the saturation-type

operation of the bigtime smut dealer. Every business, regardless of

its nature, records the names and addresses of its customers. Add

to this the telephone books, city directories, trade and business

association journals, and the list source for names and addresses

becomes endless.

The selling and renting of lists has become so profitable that it is

accepted, even by the most conservative and exclusive businesses

and trade organizations, as a proper source of income. Lists are transscribed on computer cards, addressograph plates, punch tapes,

adhesive strips, and so forth, to facilitate assembly-line transfer to

the mailing piece.

List dealers and brokers compile lists of persons with an indicated

susceptibility to certain product appeals or otherwise bring a mailer

in contact with such a list. These lists are then obtained under a sale,

rental, or exchange transaction by firms desiring to advertise particular products. Detailed records are kept and list prices rise or fall

commensurate with the response ratio experienced.

Smut dealers constantly strive to improve their own lists with names

of those who have previously indicated an interest in erotica. In doing

so, they will test any list that they can obtain regardless of its nature.

The names of those who respond are transferred to the prime list

and become a valuable property for sale or barter to other dealers

in the same field.

It is this indiscriminate mailing practice with such offensive material that so arouses the mail receiving public. The operations of one

dealer alone has resulted in well over 100,000 complaints to the Department during the past 4 years. Some persons have individually received

as many as 30 lurid unsolicited advertisements from the same promoter.

Repeated mailings have been made clearly addressed to persons

of both sexes; to prison addresses; to churches and seminaries; to students as well as instructors at boys' and girls' schools and colleges;

to military personnel at bases here and abroad; to physicians and

staff at hospitals; to business offices; and to Government personnel

at their official offices.

The broker or firm supplying the list may say he does not know the

nature of the mailing piece used. It is a trade practice, however, for

the owner or broker to frequently add his own or a dummy name to

the list so that he receives a copy of the mailing piece.
72 OBSCENE AND PANDERING ADVERTISEMENT MAIL MATTER

In an effort to strike at those principally responsible for this flow

of offensive mail, and in close cooperation with the Criminal Division

of the Department of Justice, we have been focusing our emphasis,

in line with the pandering theme laid down in Ginzburg, toward

these large dealers. The 5-year prison sentence and $99,000 fine

meted out to Milton Luros and his four corporations on January 6,

1967, demonstrates that this approach can bear results. Nearly 2

years of investigation by postal inspectors and 90 days at trial were

required in bringing this large publishing and distributing promoter

to justice.

The numerically small number of major distributors of this material

are well financed. These are in no sense fly-by-night promotions. They

are well established and they employ competent counsel. Arrest and

indictment frequently does not, in itself, always serve to halt such

entrepreneurs. Mailings continue during the period leading to trial

and even after conviction, at times, until all appeal opportunities

have been exhausted.

This is not to say that the final conviction of a major dealer, coupled

with a substantial prison sentence, may not produce a deterrent effect

on those engaged in this traff c. Complaints to this service dropped

approximately 34 percent during the 6 months following the Supreme

Court affirmation of the Ginzburg conviction in March 1966.

Regrettably, complaints are once again continuing to rise indicating

that memories may be short where profit in combination with loose

ethics are concerned.

Because of the protracted nature of major obscenity cases, the true

value of the Ginzburg decision will be seen only gradually. At the

present we have major dealer cases before the courts at San Diego,

Calif., Cleveland, Ohio, Minneapolis, Minn., and additional large

mass-distribution cases approaching the grand jury stage in various

other localities.

I can assure you that we have been doing everything in our power to

enforce the postal obscenity statute, and that we will continue to do so.

Thank you.

Mr. Nix. Thank you, Mr. Miller.

You would say from your observations that this problem has

become so big that some kind of legislation is absolutely essential,

wouldn't you?

Mr. MILLER. Yes. I would say categorically the problem—if I

might enlarge on that—is as Mr. Lawrence has explained.

It is this: Offensive material may ultimately be found violative of

the law a year or 2 or 3 years later, when the investigation is completed and when all the pandering aspects have been examined. But

it takes 2 or 3 years, possibly, to determine this in the courts. In the

meantime, offensive material keeps pouring into mailboxes throughout

the country and people don't want it; complaints come in to the Department, and at the present time there is little, if anything, that can

be done about it.

Mr. Nix. Frankly, as I have said before, of all pieces of legislation

now under consideration which is offered by my colleague, Congressman Olsen, it is the only proposal that I find that possibly could meet

the situation. We have gone over the others with great care and it

seems to me that this legislation is the only one that will meet the

requirements.
OBSCENE AND PANDERING ADVERTISEMENT MAIL MATTER 73

Thank you very much, Mr. Miller. It's been a great source of help

to have you come here and testify.

Our next witness is Dr. Jack Chernus, of East Orange, N.J.

Dr. Chernus, I want to express the thanks of the committee to you

for taking the time to come here and testify before this committee.

Would you mind reciting your professional qualifications?

STATEMENT BY DR. JACK CHERNUS, CHIEF OF PSYCHIATRY AT

ST. BARNABAS MEDICAL CENTER, LIVINGSTON, N.J.

Dr. CHERNUS. I am a doctor of medicine; a graduate of Lada

University and Medical School; I am a diplomate of the American

Board of Psychiatry which establishes me as a bona fide specialist

in psychiatry; I am the chief of psychiatry at St. Barnabas Medical

Center in Livingston, N.J., and I have conducted a private practice

for the last 25 years in psychiatry; I am a consultant in the Veterans'

Hospital in East Orange, N.J., and have at times in the past been a

consultant to the Newark Board of Education, the Floral Park and

Kenvil Board of Education; I have written and had published some

20 publications in professional journals, including one in the New

Jersey Law Journal on the topic of pornography.

Mr. Nix. Thank you, Doctor. You may proceed with your

testimony.

Dr. CHERNUS. I have no prepared statement. I would welcome

some questions from you, sir, that my answer to which might clarify

your deliberations.

Mr. Nix. Would you care to make a preliminary statement,

Doctor?

Dr. CHERNUS. I was really filled in substantively just now by the

testimony of the prior witnesses to the effect that many young people,

particularly, are receiving unsolicited mail of a pornographic or

obscene nature. I think that the Post Office Department is very wise

to launch this effort to curtail this legislatively. I would share with

them their concern that there may be a great deal of harm by such

a channeled practice.

I just want to say, briefly, I want to put forward two thoughts

that might serve as a general background or reference point to the

committee.

First I want to speak briefly on the question of crime. Crime is a

very complex phenomenon and must be seen from the point of view

of surface, conscious element, and unconscious elements.

From the conscious point of view, some motives are clearly discernible in crime such as pleasure and gain. Not nearly as visible,

because of their unconscious factor, one must recognize that there

are states of mental disawareness such as a feeling of helplessness or

feeling of anxiety which are even stronger motivations for crime.

To illustrate, those of us who are "in a normal state of mental

health" might go from a relatively indifferent state to a state of

justifiable elation and pleasure by going into a ball game and hitting

a home run.

A person who has unconscious mental disaware to the feeling of

terrible fear, an unknown fear or a fear of being helpless and amounting to nothing, may hold up a gas station and derive therefrom the
76 OBSCENE AND PANDERING ADVERTISEMENT MAIL MATTER

STATEMENT BY HARRY FOX, CHIEF INSPECTOR, PHILADELPHIA

POLICE DEPARTMENT

Mr. Fox. Mr. Chairman, I begin by bringing the personal greetings

of our new police commissioner, Frank L. Rizzo, and the members of

the Philadelphia Police Department.

Mr. Nix. Thank you.

Mr. Fox. Commissioner Rizzo sends his regrets because he will be

unable to testify before this outstanding committee. He has asked

me to represent him at these hearings.

Mr. Nix. Yes.

Mr. Fox. Mr. Chairman and distinguished members, I am indeed

honored to be given an opportunity, as a professional policeman, to

appear before you.

In July 1959, I was invited to appear before the Subcommittee on

Postal Operations of the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service,

House of Representatives, 86th Congress of the United States. It was

chaired by Mrs. Granahan. The topic at that time was "Mail order

business in obscene and pornographic materials."

I would like to say that in the passing years Congress, the police,

and the public have solved their problems in this field and the danger

has passed. But, unfortunately, this is not true. Like weeds, obscenity

and pornographic literature springs up in many and varied places.

The whole area of what our citizens see, read, and hear has undergone a great evolution. Perhaps I should call it a great revolution.

This right to purchase, read, and see has been the focal point of

crusaders time and time again.

Now, as a policeman, I'm concerned about our future citizens, our

youth. I, for one, don't think a "For adults only" sign, or a rating that

suggests the children shouldn't see or read, discharges a citizen's

responsibility to our youth.

I recall one noted jurist, who, looking at literature highlighting

nudes, admitted this literature did not have the public acceptance

that is given to the ideas and ways of life of other magazines, but they

were still entitled to equal treatment by our Post Office Department.

I don't believe the layman feels the same way.

In the past 8 years, the law enforcement units of our Nation have

continued to discover, investigate, prosecute, and attempt to eliminate

sex crimes, deviations, and moral breakdowns, both in our adult and

juvenile population.

The intervening years seem to have produced a type of "creeping

obscenity." Our youth are bombarded with sex in many forms, television, motion pictures, books, magazines, and advertising. Dr.

Frignito, our county court psychiatrist, who testified here this morning, who has evaluated hundreds of our juvenile cases, has said,

"moral depravity is on the increase. This increase is directly linked to

pornography."

Hard core pornography violates the law and has been the target for

police suppression for many years. The nudist-type photography

magazines have had constitutional protection, but it is still difficult

to explain to parents that the famous decision, "nudity in itself is not

obscene" must be applied to their own teenage sons' purchases.

However, the stimulation of youth has now another outlet not

usually considered—pandering advertising.
OBSCENE AND PANDERING ADVERTISEMENT MAIL MATTER 77

One approach to this is an invitation to buy a membership in a club

designed to promote correspondence between lonely people. The ad

highlights "unusual, offbeat, bizarre." The pictures of sensuous girls

contain their exaggerated measurements with such statements as,

"I'm broadminded with exotic, unusual interests, desire to meet young

man or couple; will try anything once; I'm broadminded, affectionate

swinger. Modern couple, nudists, Polaroid fans, have secluded country

home."

In other ads

'

they highlight esoteric and exciting books, covering

the subjects as Swap Clubs Sexual Deviations, and Bizarre Practices

of Women, Blood Bath of Humiliation through Torture. The implications of sadism and masochism are read between the lines. This is all

under the guise of sophistication.

Hidden in the order section of these ads is the phrase, "I am 21

years of age." Any person from nine to 90, who has the cash, can clip

the ad and order a book or join a club. There is no obligation to prove

age or mental development.

No one really knows how many juveniles save their nickels and

dimes to answer these ads. But I do know that, from time to time,

irate parents, knowing of my work with youth, have called me and

visited me, demanding to know how their youngsters got on the

mailing lists of books and magazines dealing with sex and deviations.

In a metropolitan city, police often investigate, arrest, and charge

juveniles with sex offenses. The offenses range from rape, sodomy,

and public indecency to possession of obscene material.

During 1966, a total of 360 juveniles were arrested by the Philadelphia police and charged with crimes within the sex category. They

ranged from 10 to 17 years of age.

These are cases brought to the attention of police. I'm certain

hundreds of others, committed by young children, are unreported

and adjusted by parents and counselors.

I cite these to indicate a problem that can be influenced and

nurtured by obscenity in any form. The suggestive ads type of literature adds to the overall problem.

We realize that our Post Office Department has been waging a

valiant war against pornography and its fringes of obscenity. Its

losing battle with magazines, aimed at homosexuals for several years,

again echoes a New York Times dispatch, "the decision will unquestionably make it more difficult for the Post Office to censor the

mails on the grounds of obscenity."

Opposition and setbacks should not discourage the men and women,

and organizations, public and private, that are speaking out against

the creeping fringe obscenity and advertisement pandering.

Any policeman knows he can't give his son a loaded gun and not

expect him to pull the trigger or get hurt. Youth are prone to temptation and experimentation, particularly with forbidden fruit.

The way you protect your boy is to keep loaded guns out of his

reach and out of his sight.

You can't expose children to all types of sex pictures, literature, ads

and invitations and tell them not to participate in any type of sexual

acts.

For police, parents, legislators, and responsible adults to protect the

youth of our Nation, every effort to eliminate stimuli that lead to overt

acts must be made.
78 OBSCENE AND PANDERING ADVERTISEMENT MAIL MATTER

The control of mail delivered into the home is a step in that direction.

I might add that the chief postal inspector and the men of his unit

have worked very closely with the police department on many problems involving pornography that is sent through the postal service.

We will continue to join forces and eliminate this evil, particularly as

it affects the children of our city.

The police department agrees with your subcommittee that the

mailing of pandering advertising and obscenity through the mail should

be eliminated as quickly as possible, and to this end we support your

distinguished committee and wish you success in the development,

introduction and passage of the proposed bills.

Thank you.

Mr. Nix. Thank you, Inspector. I want to thank you for the statement you've made.

I want to congratulate you on the outstanding service that you

have rendered the community over a great number of years. I wish

you many more years of successful work, and I want to congratulate

the police department of the city of Philadelphia. We have taken

testimony in many places. We have had occasion to ask the opinion

of others about the police department of the city of Philadelphia,

and it is universally agreed that you have an outstanding organization.

I compliment you.

Mr. Fox. Thank you very much.

Mr. Nix. Thank you very much, Inspector.

Mr. Fox. My pleasure.

Mr. Nix. I want to thank publicly each of the witnesses for coming

to our hearing today, for each witness who appeared today did so at a

considerable sacrifice to himself. Each is a busy man and I understand

the acceptance of our invitation to testify has resulted in canceled

appointments and in new schedules.

Very often in a democracy the surprising thing is how well served

the Government is by the unselfishness of its public servants and

citizens.

I am on the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives, and I know that all of us feel sometimes that we could

make a great contribution if we could only be more actively involved

in foreign affairs. My service on that committee has taught me that

the greatest thing any of us can do to make our contribution is by

helping to make this country a better place to live. A strong America

will have very little trouble in the world, and a weak America will

have nothing but trouble. Let me then congratulate all of you on

making your contribution to a better United States today.

The bills we are considering in the subcommittee relate to the mailing of pandering advertising and obscenity through the mail to

people who don't want it and parents who don't want it for their

children. These bills or any of them, if passed, will grant a right, not

take away rights, because mail patrons will have the right to say

what comes into their homes. When a father asserts this right, he

takes away nothing from anyone else, but merely declares how he

will live and carry out his responsibilities to his children.

The desire to make money at any cost in human misery will have

to give way in time to the right of citizens to be let alone—to have

privacy in a mass-production society. A businessman who is a mailer

may have the right to speak, and the Madison Avenue advertising
OBSCENE AND PANDERING ADVERTISEMENT MAIL MATTER 79

executive to sell his client's wares, but in a free America we all have

the right not to listen. These bills will protect that right.

I feel that Americans are not made by nature to be members of a

captive audience.

The Subcommittee on Postal Operations will stand adjourned.

(Whereupon, the subcommittee was adjourned, at 3:10 p.m.)

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