Dallas D.A. Charges Stores in Live Crew Sales

The Dallas District Attorney’s office filed misdemeanor obscenity charges against two record stores Friday for selling the Miami rap group 2 Live Crew album “As Nasty As They Wanna Be.”

A U.S. District Court judge in Florida declared the album obscene June 6, triggering a nationwide controversy.

Assistant Dist. Atty. David Pickett said the office decided to prosecute Sound Warehouse and Hastings Records stores after a 13-year-old boy, accompanied by an undercover officer, purchased the album Tuesday. Neither record store offered comment.

Prosecutors said the album, which has sold more than 2 million copies, lacks serious or literary value, fails to meet accepted community standards in Dallas and its lyrics contain hundreds of references to body parts.

“These albums are harmful because they contribute to the overall environment that romanticizes, trivializes and even encourages violence against women,” Pickett said.

The prosecutor claims studies have shown such material has an addictive effect on society and desensitizes normal relations among youth.

Brad Lollar, an attorney representing a group of lawyers who have volunteered to defend any Dallas store charged for selling the 2 Live Crew albums, questioned Pickett’s motives: “What we have here is censorship and prior restraint of free speech. Movie videos, records, tapes, whatever. Mr. Pickett wants them to listen to them first and then if they think the Dallas D.A.’s office might arrest them for selling it, then they should take it off the shelf.”