February 14, 2009
Judith Reisman: beware of David Ogden
By Matt C. Abbott
RenewAmerica
Long-time pornography foe Dr. Judith A. Reisman sounds the alarm regarding David W. Ogden, President Obama's nominee for Deputy Attorney General, in the following commentary.
Government Child Protectors, Attorneys, and Crime Prevention Agents Endorse Big Pornography Advocate for United States Deputy Attorney General
by Judith Reisman
'On November 6, 2008, President-elect Obama tapped Big Pornography attorney David Ogden to establish his new U.S. Justice Department team with nary a word of warning from the conservative legal watch.
'On January 5, 2009, President Obama nominated Ogden for U.S. Justice Department Deputy Attorney General. His nomination hearing was scheduled for February 5.
'On January 21, the Senate Judiciary Committee began receiving formal 'Letters Received in Connection with the Nomination' (some naming multiple persons and organizations). All 51 endorsed Ogden.
'On or about February 2, the conservative legal watch alerted pro-family, anti-pornography activists of Ogden's record and hearing scheduled for a few days later.
'What was that record? With Ogden's confirmation challenged, Edward Whelan, of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, wrote, 'David Ogden has advocated the interests of the porn industry [in] a child-pornography case, Knox v. United States.' When Knox appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, President Clinton's Solicitor General, Drew Days, refused to defend his conviction. Congress condemned Days by a Senate vote of 100-0 vote and a House vote of 425-3. Congress then hired a private legal firm to support Knox's conviction.
'The Senate, says Whelan, 'is now being asked to confirm as Deputy Attorney General someone who advocated,' in Knox, the drastic reduction in child-pornography laws 'that the Senate unanimously repudiated 16 years ago.' Jan LaRue, senior legal analyst with the American Civil Rights Union, adds that Ogden has a 'track record on behalf of those who've deluged America with pornography and against the federal laws he would be sworn to enforce.'
'Yet not one letter below included a single word about Ogden's long and profitable tenure in the service of Big Pornography. Is it possible that these guardians of the law and of children's safety were just ignorant about Mr. Ogden's ties? As of now, not one has removed his or her support.
'The blue-ribbon list of endorsers includes Thomas Miller, Iowa Attorney General; Douglas Gansler, Maryland Attorney General; Jo Ann Harris, former Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division; Larry Thompson, former Deputy Attorney General; Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick; and — hold on for this — The National Women's Law Center and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC)!
'It has been my Washington experience that Ogden's Big Pornography service would be known to many, if not most, of his endorsers. And, as I said, all of the letters remain in place even after the much belated reports of Ogden as a veteran pornography advocate.
'The Ogden fiasco brings to mind my August 15, 1983 naming to the FBI/DOJ 'Missing Children, Serial Murder Task Force,' a nascent NCMEC. Our mission was to study 'The effect that pornography and sexology may have upon societal violence in general and juvenile exploitation and abuse in particular.' Our FBI/DOJ Task Force of 23 criminal justice experts agreed on the need to collect evidence of 'pornography and its relationship/linkage to child abuse, sexual exploitation, delinquency, and societal violence.'
'This FBI/DOJ/OJJDP Task Force was spiked from above before we got out of the starting gate. Neither the NCMEC, the FBI nor law enforcement collects on-site data on pornography's 'relationship/linkage to child abuse, sexual exploitation, delinquency, and social violence.' Big Pornography has powerful friends in the seats of power.
Note the Letters Received in Connection with the Nomination below:
February 6, 2009 — National Congress of American Indians
February 4, 2009 — Todd Zubler, WilmerHale
February 4, 2009 — Todd R. Steggerda, WilmerHale
February 4, 2009 — Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, State of Iowa
February 4, 2009 — Robert F. Hoyt
February 3, 2009 — Leadership Conference on Civil Rights — [American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), Americans for Democratic Action, Asian American Justice Center, Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, Black Leadership Forum, Inc., Campaign for America's Future, Human Rights Campaign, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc., NARAL Pro-Choice America, National Abortion Federation, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), National Congress of American Indians, National Health Law Program, National Partnership, National Senior Citizens Law Center, People for the American Way, The Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law]
February 2, 2009 — Reginald J. Brown, WilmerHale
January 27, 2009 — National District Attorneys Association
January 27, 2009 — Douglas F. Gansler, Attorney General, State of Maryland
January 27, 2009 — Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA)
January 26, 2009 — National Sheriff's Association
January 26, 2009 — Christine Gregoire, Governor, State of Washington
January 26, 2009 — Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association
January 26, 2009 — Beth S. Brinkmann, Morrison Foerster; former Assistant to the Solicitor General
January 25, 2009 — Major Cities Chiefs Association
January 25, 2009 — Jo Ann Harris, Attorney At Law; former Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division
January 23, 2009 — Larry Thompson, former Deputy Attorney General
January 23, 2009 — Deval Patrick, Governor, State of Massachusetts
January 23, 2009 — National Women's Law Center
January 23, 2009 — National Narcotic Officers' Association Coalition
January 23, 2009 — Peter Keisler, Sidley Austin LLP, former Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division; former Acting Attorney General
January 23, 2009 — Michael E. Horowitz, Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP; Commissioner, U.S. Sentencing Commission
January 23, 2009 — Jamie S. Gorelick, WilmerHale, former Deputy Attorney General
January 23, 2009 — Manus Cooney
January 23, 2009 — Paul T. Cappuccio, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, TimeWarner; former Associate Deputy Attorney General
January 23, 2009 — Boys and Girls Clubs of America
January 23, 2009 — Anti-Defamation League
January 23, 2009 — H. Thomas Wells, Jr., Maynard Cooper & Gale PC
January 22, 2009 — James Robinson, Cadwalader, Wickersham and Taft LLP; former Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division
January 22, 2009 — Daniel Price, former Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economic Affairs
January 22, 2009 — Partnership for a Drug-Free America
January 22, 2009 — Police Executive Research Forum
January 22, 2009 — National Association of Police Organizations, Inc.
January 22, 2009 — Daniel Levin, White & Case; former Acting Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel; former Assistant U.S. Attorney
January 22, 2009 — Bill Lann Lee, Lewis, Feinberg, Lee, Renaker & Jackson, P.C.; former Assistant Attorney General
January 22, 2009 — Judge Advocates General [MG Michael Nardotti, USA (Ret.); MG Kenneth Gray, USA (Ret.); RADM Harold Grant, JAGC, USN (Ret.); Maj Gen Nolan Sklute, USAF (Ret.); Maj Gen Andrew Egeland, USAF (Ret.); BGen Michael Wholley, USMC (Ret.); MG Walter Huffman, USA (Ret.); RADM John Hutson, JAGC, USN (Ret.); BGen Joseph Composto, USMC (Ret.); RADM Donald Guter, JAGC, USN (Ret.); RADM Thomas Connelly, JAGC, USN (Ret.); RADM Steven Horton, JAGC, USN (Ret.)]
January 22, 2009 — Kenneth Geller, Mayer Brown LLP, former Deputy Solicitor General
January 22, 2009 — Stuart M. Gerson, former Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division
January 22, 2009 — Fraternal Order of Police
January 22, 2009 — John B. Bellinger, III
January 22, 2009 — American Psychological Association
January 21, 2009 — Seth Waxman, WilmerHale; former Solicitor General
January 21, 2009 — Daniel E. Troy, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, GlaxoSmithKline
January 21, 2009 — Richard Taranto, Farr & Taranto; former Assistant to the Solicitor General
January 21, 2009 — Carter S. Phillips, Sidley Austin LLP; former Assistant to the Solicitor General
January 21, 2009 — National Center for Victims of Crime
January 21, 2009 — National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
January 21, 2009 — Carolyn Lamm, White and Case
January 21, 2009 — David C. Frederick, Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans & Figel, P.L.L.C.; former Assistant to the Solicitor General
January 21, 2009 — Rachel L. Brand, WilmerHale
January 21, 2009 — Jeffrey M. Blum, Attorney at Law
'Some parting questions: Was President Obama ever warned about Ogden's Big Pornography ties? Were opposing letters from pro-family, anti-pornography law watchdogs purged from above, or never sent? Is the Ogden fiasco linked to the foiling of our FBI/DOJ plan to examine pornography's role in our 'Missing Children, Serial Murder Task Force' in 1983?'
Related commentary:
"Porn Attorney: #2 at Justice Department?"
© Matt C. Abbott
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
Thank you.
Judith Reisman: beware of David Ogden
By Matt C. Abbott
RenewAmerica
Long-time pornography foe Dr. Judith A. Reisman sounds the alarm regarding David W. Ogden, President Obama's nominee for Deputy Attorney General, in the following commentary.
Government Child Protectors, Attorneys, and Crime Prevention Agents Endorse Big Pornography Advocate for United States Deputy Attorney General
by Judith Reisman
'On November 6, 2008, President-elect Obama tapped Big Pornography attorney David Ogden to establish his new U.S. Justice Department team with nary a word of warning from the conservative legal watch.
'On January 5, 2009, President Obama nominated Ogden for U.S. Justice Department Deputy Attorney General. His nomination hearing was scheduled for February 5.
'On January 21, the Senate Judiciary Committee began receiving formal 'Letters Received in Connection with the Nomination' (some naming multiple persons and organizations). All 51 endorsed Ogden.
'On or about February 2, the conservative legal watch alerted pro-family, anti-pornography activists of Ogden's record and hearing scheduled for a few days later.
'What was that record? With Ogden's confirmation challenged, Edward Whelan, of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, wrote, 'David Ogden has advocated the interests of the porn industry [in] a child-pornography case, Knox v. United States.' When Knox appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, President Clinton's Solicitor General, Drew Days, refused to defend his conviction. Congress condemned Days by a Senate vote of 100-0 vote and a House vote of 425-3. Congress then hired a private legal firm to support Knox's conviction.
'The Senate, says Whelan, 'is now being asked to confirm as Deputy Attorney General someone who advocated,' in Knox, the drastic reduction in child-pornography laws 'that the Senate unanimously repudiated 16 years ago.' Jan LaRue, senior legal analyst with the American Civil Rights Union, adds that Ogden has a 'track record on behalf of those who've deluged America with pornography and against the federal laws he would be sworn to enforce.'
'Yet not one letter below included a single word about Ogden's long and profitable tenure in the service of Big Pornography. Is it possible that these guardians of the law and of children's safety were just ignorant about Mr. Ogden's ties? As of now, not one has removed his or her support.
'The blue-ribbon list of endorsers includes Thomas Miller, Iowa Attorney General; Douglas Gansler, Maryland Attorney General; Jo Ann Harris, former Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division; Larry Thompson, former Deputy Attorney General; Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick; and — hold on for this — The National Women's Law Center and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC)!
'It has been my Washington experience that Ogden's Big Pornography service would be known to many, if not most, of his endorsers. And, as I said, all of the letters remain in place even after the much belated reports of Ogden as a veteran pornography advocate.
'The Ogden fiasco brings to mind my August 15, 1983 naming to the FBI/DOJ 'Missing Children, Serial Murder Task Force,' a nascent NCMEC. Our mission was to study 'The effect that pornography and sexology may have upon societal violence in general and juvenile exploitation and abuse in particular.' Our FBI/DOJ Task Force of 23 criminal justice experts agreed on the need to collect evidence of 'pornography and its relationship/linkage to child abuse, sexual exploitation, delinquency, and societal violence.'
'This FBI/DOJ/OJJDP Task Force was spiked from above before we got out of the starting gate. Neither the NCMEC, the FBI nor law enforcement collects on-site data on pornography's 'relationship/linkage to child abuse, sexual exploitation, delinquency, and social violence.' Big Pornography has powerful friends in the seats of power.
Note the Letters Received in Connection with the Nomination below:
February 6, 2009 — National Congress of American Indians
February 4, 2009 — Todd Zubler, WilmerHale
February 4, 2009 — Todd R. Steggerda, WilmerHale
February 4, 2009 — Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, State of Iowa
February 4, 2009 — Robert F. Hoyt
February 3, 2009 — Leadership Conference on Civil Rights — [American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), Americans for Democratic Action, Asian American Justice Center, Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, Black Leadership Forum, Inc., Campaign for America's Future, Human Rights Campaign, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc., NARAL Pro-Choice America, National Abortion Federation, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), National Congress of American Indians, National Health Law Program, National Partnership, National Senior Citizens Law Center, People for the American Way, The Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law]
February 2, 2009 — Reginald J. Brown, WilmerHale
January 27, 2009 — National District Attorneys Association
January 27, 2009 — Douglas F. Gansler, Attorney General, State of Maryland
January 27, 2009 — Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA)
January 26, 2009 — National Sheriff's Association
January 26, 2009 — Christine Gregoire, Governor, State of Washington
January 26, 2009 — Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association
January 26, 2009 — Beth S. Brinkmann, Morrison Foerster; former Assistant to the Solicitor General
January 25, 2009 — Major Cities Chiefs Association
January 25, 2009 — Jo Ann Harris, Attorney At Law; former Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division
January 23, 2009 — Larry Thompson, former Deputy Attorney General
January 23, 2009 — Deval Patrick, Governor, State of Massachusetts
January 23, 2009 — National Women's Law Center
January 23, 2009 — National Narcotic Officers' Association Coalition
January 23, 2009 — Peter Keisler, Sidley Austin LLP, former Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division; former Acting Attorney General
January 23, 2009 — Michael E. Horowitz, Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP; Commissioner, U.S. Sentencing Commission
January 23, 2009 — Jamie S. Gorelick, WilmerHale, former Deputy Attorney General
January 23, 2009 — Manus Cooney
January 23, 2009 — Paul T. Cappuccio, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, TimeWarner; former Associate Deputy Attorney General
January 23, 2009 — Boys and Girls Clubs of America
January 23, 2009 — Anti-Defamation League
January 23, 2009 — H. Thomas Wells, Jr., Maynard Cooper & Gale PC
January 22, 2009 — James Robinson, Cadwalader, Wickersham and Taft LLP; former Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division
January 22, 2009 — Daniel Price, former Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economic Affairs
January 22, 2009 — Partnership for a Drug-Free America
January 22, 2009 — Police Executive Research Forum
January 22, 2009 — National Association of Police Organizations, Inc.
January 22, 2009 — Daniel Levin, White & Case; former Acting Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel; former Assistant U.S. Attorney
January 22, 2009 — Bill Lann Lee, Lewis, Feinberg, Lee, Renaker & Jackson, P.C.; former Assistant Attorney General
January 22, 2009 — Judge Advocates General [MG Michael Nardotti, USA (Ret.); MG Kenneth Gray, USA (Ret.); RADM Harold Grant, JAGC, USN (Ret.); Maj Gen Nolan Sklute, USAF (Ret.); Maj Gen Andrew Egeland, USAF (Ret.); BGen Michael Wholley, USMC (Ret.); MG Walter Huffman, USA (Ret.); RADM John Hutson, JAGC, USN (Ret.); BGen Joseph Composto, USMC (Ret.); RADM Donald Guter, JAGC, USN (Ret.); RADM Thomas Connelly, JAGC, USN (Ret.); RADM Steven Horton, JAGC, USN (Ret.)]
January 22, 2009 — Kenneth Geller, Mayer Brown LLP, former Deputy Solicitor General
January 22, 2009 — Stuart M. Gerson, former Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division
January 22, 2009 — Fraternal Order of Police
January 22, 2009 — John B. Bellinger, III
January 22, 2009 — American Psychological Association
January 21, 2009 — Seth Waxman, WilmerHale; former Solicitor General
January 21, 2009 — Daniel E. Troy, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, GlaxoSmithKline
January 21, 2009 — Richard Taranto, Farr & Taranto; former Assistant to the Solicitor General
January 21, 2009 — Carter S. Phillips, Sidley Austin LLP; former Assistant to the Solicitor General
January 21, 2009 — National Center for Victims of Crime
January 21, 2009 — National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
January 21, 2009 — Carolyn Lamm, White and Case
January 21, 2009 — David C. Frederick, Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans & Figel, P.L.L.C.; former Assistant to the Solicitor General
January 21, 2009 — Rachel L. Brand, WilmerHale
January 21, 2009 — Jeffrey M. Blum, Attorney at Law
'Some parting questions: Was President Obama ever warned about Ogden's Big Pornography ties? Were opposing letters from pro-family, anti-pornography law watchdogs purged from above, or never sent? Is the Ogden fiasco linked to the foiling of our FBI/DOJ plan to examine pornography's role in our 'Missing Children, Serial Murder Task Force' in 1983?'
Related commentary:
"Porn Attorney: #2 at Justice Department?"
© Matt C. Abbott
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
Thank you.
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