The Meese Report (named for

Edwin Meese Edwin Meese III (born December 2, 1931) is an American attorney, law professor, author and member of the Republican Party who served in official capacities within the Ronald Reagan's gubernatorial administration (1967–1974), the Reagan pres ...

), officially the ''Final Report of the Attorney General's Commission on Pornography'', is the result of an investigation into

pornography Pornography (often shortened to porn or porno) is the portrayal of sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal. Primarily intended for adults,

ordered by

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

. It was published in July 1986 and contains 1,960 pages. The following people composed the Attorney General's Commission on Pornography (commonly called the Meese Commission): * Henry E. Hudson,

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

* Diane D. Cusack * Park Elliott Dietz *

James Dobson James Clayton Dobson Jr. (born April 21, 1936) is an American evangelical Christian author, psychologist, and founder of Focus on the Family (FOTF), which he led from 1977 until 2010. In the 1980s he was ranked as one of the most influentia ...

* Father Bruce Ritter * Frederick Schauer * Deanne Tilton-Durfee * Judith V. Becker *

Ellen Levine Ellen Levine (born Ellen Rose Jacobson) (February 19, 1943 – November 6, 2022) was an American media executive. From 2006 to 2016, she served as the Editorial Director of Hearst Magazines, and served as a consultant to Hearst from January 2017. ...

* Edward J. Garcia * Tex Lezar * Alan E. Sears The report is divided into five parts and 35 chapters and details most aspects of the pornography industry, including the history of pornography and the extent of

First Amendment First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

protections. The report also documents what the committee found to be the harmful effects of pornography and connections between pornographers and

organized crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

. The report was criticized by many inside and outside the pornography industry, calling it biased, not credible, and inaccurate. The report along with revised prosecution tactics under Attorney General Meese was effective in reducing pornography markets in some jurisdictions prior to the Internet.Alberta, Tim. (November/December 2018). "How the GOP gave up on pornography"
Politico website
Retrieved 11 November 2018. The "Meese Report" was preceded by the report of presidents

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

's and

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

's Commission on Obscenity and Pornography, which was published in 1970 and recommended loosening the legal restrictions on pornography.

''Playboy v. Meese''

Prior to the Report's release, Meese Commission chairman

Alan Sears Alan E. Sears is an American lawyer. He served as the president (corporate title), president, Chief executive officer, CEO, and general counsel of the Alliance Defending Freedom until January 2017. Sears was also the staff executive director of th ...

sent letters on Commission letterhead to the heads of 23 convenience store chains and other companies, declaring that the Commission would find that they were distributors of pornography and threatening that they would be listed as such in the final ''Report''. In fact, the list of purported distributors had been identified by

Donald Wildmon Donald Ellis Wildmon (born January 18, 1938) is an ordained United Methodist minister, author, former radio host, and founder and chairman emeritus of the American Family Association and American Family Radio. Life and career Wildmon was born in t ...

, the head of the conservative Christian advocacy organization that later became the

American Family Association The American Family Association (AFA) is a Christian fundamentalist 501(c)(3) organization based in the United States.

. The letters triggered several companies to remove common

soft-core pornography Softcore pornography or softcore porn, is commercial still photography or film that has a pornographic or erotic component but is less sexually graphic and intrusive than hardcore pornography, defined by a lack of visual sexual penetration. Sof ...

magazines as ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...

'' and ''

Penthouse Penthouse most often refers to: *Penthouse apartment, a special apartment on the top floor of a building *Penthouse (magazine), ''Penthouse'' (magazine), a British-founded men's magazine *Mechanical penthouse, a floor, typically located directly u ...

'' from store shelves. The

American Booksellers Association The American Booksellers Association (ABA) is a non-profit trade association founded in 1900 that promotes independent bookstores in the United States. ABA's core members are key participants in their communities' local economy and culture, and t ...

, the

Council for Periodical Distributors Associations A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/ shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nati ...

, the

Magazine Publishers of America A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinati ...

, and the publishers of ''Playboy'' and ''Penthouse'' sued, arguing that the letters constituted

prior restraint Prior restraint (also referred to as prior censorship or pre-publication censorship) is censorship imposed, usually by a government or institution, on expression, that prohibits particular instances of expression. It is in contrast to censorship ...

and were forbidden under the

. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia agreed, leading it to admonish the Commission, order it to withdraw the letter, and forbid it to issue any list of retailers in the report.

References

{{reflist

External links

Full text via Hathi Trust Digital LibraryThe Obscene, Disgusting, and Vile Meese Commission Report
by Pat Califia, an essay criticizing The Meese Report
Politics and Pornography: A Comparison of the Findings of the President's Commission and the Meese Commission and the Resulting Response
by David M. Edwards

first published in the Proletarian Revolution No. 27 (Winter 1987) by the League for the Revolutionary Party (New York City).

by Edwin McDowell (October 21, 1986)

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

. United States pornography law 1986 in the United States 1986 documents Reports of the United States government

''Playboy v. Meese''

See also

References

External links