Utah Governor Signs Law Clearing Way for Porn Czar

Gov. Mike Leavitt signed a law Friday that will make Utah the first state with a pornography czar.

“The irony of all this is that there have not been that many pornography cases lately,” said Carol Gnade, director of the Utah chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. “This seems to be a solution without a problem.”

The czar, a prosecutor who has yet to be appointed, will help local governments restrict or eliminate pornography. But the appointee, whose title will be deputy attorney general, will have little prosecutorial power and no jurisdiction over the Internet or cable television.

Instead, the prosecutor will help local governments “restrict, suppress, or eliminate” pornography and provide information “about the dangers of obscenity.”

Pornography is a topic of intense debate in Utah, where 70% of the population is Mormon.

The same lawmakers who passed the porn czar rule dubbed a Planned Parenthood booklet on condoms pornographic during a debate on sex education. And the Legislature already has passed separate laws banning Playboy from prisons and preventing minors from viewing pornographic Web sites at public libraries.

Pornography actually is difficult to find in Utah. Yet the Internet has made even the most explicit sexual material available to anyone with a computer and a credit card, and that makes religious conservatives in Utah and nationwide nervous.

The law’s sponsor, state Rep. Evan L. Olsen (R-Young Ward) said his constituents have come to him with questions about the state’s obscenity standards after discovering their children surfing for cybersex. “I felt there’s a lot of people who wanted to do something but didn’t know where to turn,” he said.

The new law sets aside $75,000 next year and suggests spending $150,000 in future years to hire an obscenity and pornography complaints ombudsman.

“It’s time to say what’s happening here,” said Gayle Ruzicka, chairwoman of Utah’s chapter of the conservative Eagle Forum, a lobbying group, and a driving force behind many of the new laws. “Pornography has suddenly become a huge, huge business--beyond anything we ever imagined--and it’s as addictive as drugs. People are asking for help.”

In some cases, the ombudsman will help county attorneys prosecute pornographers. In others, he or she may help communities avoid costly legislation by acting as a mediator, such as in a recent case in which a video store owner was prosecuted for renting cable-edited adult films.