Gov. Takes Credit for Rappers’ Arrests

Gov. Bob Martinez claimed credit today for sparking a crackdown against the rap group 2 Live Crew, as authorities prepared to charge a third band member with violating the state obscenity law.

Broward County sheriff’s deputies arrested two band members early Sunday, shortly after the band finished a live performance in Hollywood, Fla.

Martinez, a Republican facing a potentially tough reelection race this year, asked statewide prosecutor Peter Antonacci in February to mount a racketeering and obscenity investigation of the group’s album “As Nasty as They Wanna Be,” saying sale of the sexually explicit recording to minors “violates all conceivable standards of decency.”

Antonacci declined, saying local prosecution made more sense.

“I think the local jurisdictions took him (Antonacci) at his word,” Martinez said in Tallahassee. “I think this (album) is a form of, in this case, audio pornography.”

The album has been declared obscene in south Florida and in at least eight other counties across the state.

Broward Sgt. Bob Faulkner said authorities plan to issue a notice to appear charging band member Mark Ross with the first-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine of $1,000.

Faulkner said a fourth band member, David Hobbs, will not be charged because he did not recite the controversial lyrics during the performance.

2 Live Crew is not expected to return to south Florida from Phoenix until Tuesday, said Bruce Rogow, the band’s attorney. The band flew to Phoenix on Sunday for a performance there.

Authorities had planned to arrest all four band members after the weekend concert but failed to nab Ross and Hobbs after they left the club in a separate car.

Authorities decided Monday not to issue warrants for their arrest.

Rogow said band members will cooperate.

Band leader Luther Campbell, 29, and member Chris Won Wong, 26, were arrested Sunday without incident several blocks from Club Futura.

Broward deputies acted under the authority of a civil ruling issued Wednesday in Ft. Lauderdale by U.S. District Judge Jose Gonzalez, who said “As Nasty as They Wanna Be” is legally obscene by south Florida standards because its lyrics vividly depict sexual acts and lack any redeeming social value. His ruling applied in Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.

In Tallahassee, Martinez was asked about reports that the controversy had boosted sales of the album.

“There’s always a small percentage that that (album) will appeal to,” Martinez said. “It doesn’t to me, and I think it doesn’t to the majority of the people in this state or the majority of people in this nation.”

Earlier story on F2.