Navy Reviewing the Sale of Sexually Explicit Magazines at Base Stores

Should Navy commissaries sell Playboy, Penthouse and other sexually explicit magazines?

The Navy is considering that question as part of a new program to stamp out sexual harassment.

The move, which the Navy is calling a review, is prompting concern that the Navy may be going overboard as it attempts to deal with the repercussions of the Tailhook sex abuse scandal.

The mere rumor that adult publications might be banned from the military stores’ shelves prompted a stern letter from Playboy’s lawyers to Christopher Jehn, assistant secretary of defense for personnel.

“Any such ban would clearly violate the First Amendment,” Bruce J. Ennis, who represents Playboy Enterprises, said in a Sept. 8 letter.

“Playboy Enterprises takes this matter very seriously and has authorized me to take whatever steps may be necessary, including litigation, to ensure that there will be no interruption in the sale of Playboy magazines at Navy PXs, or at any military PXs,” Ennis wrote.

Earlier this year the base commander at the Recruit Training Center in Orlando, Fla., decided to remove Playboy and Penthouse from base exchanges.

The base is one of three boot camps for sailors, but it is the only one that has mixed classes for males and females. It has been the site of some sexual harassment problems for the service.

A Navy spokesman, Lt. Cmdr. Steve Pietropaoli, said Tuesday the decision was a response to “consistent complaints” that the publications were demeaning to women, and after the commander determined that “these publications were not in accordance with his mission of teaching young recruits about the importance of human dignity.”

Pietropaoli said the Navy “is not contemplating a ban” on such publications, but that the policy of allowing them to be sold on bases is worth reviewing.

“The sale of adult materials is permitted . . . but it is also not mandated,” the spokesman said.

It is within the purview of any commander “to review what is on his shelves and decide whether it is helping his mission of good order and discipline or not,” Pietropaoli said.

The review of the publications was announced Tuesday as part of Acting Navy Secretary Sean O’Keefe’s efforts to eradicate sexual harassment from the service. These steps are the latest reaction to complaints from dozens of women who said they were attacked and fondled by Navy and Marine Corps officers at the Tailhook Assn.’s 1991 convention of aviators in Las Vegas.

It was one of a package of recommendations designed to “enhance professional opportunities for women” in the Navy and the Marine Corps and to “deal with the culture, environment and attitudes that contribute to sexual harassment and gender bias,” a Navy statement said.

Ennis, in an interview, said the Defense Department has reviewed the sale of Playboy in the past on military exchanges, and its own lawyers have determined a ban would violate the First Amendment.

One of Ennis’ law partners, David Ogden, said no reply has been received to Ennis’ letter.

Ogden said the magazine was very popular at military exchanges.

While some conservative politicians have complained about such sales, the courts have found in the past that “what civilians have access to, our armed forces are entitled to, as well,” Ogden said.