Child Protection Restoration and Penalties Enforcement Act
The Child Protection Restoration and Penalties Enforcement Act is a significant piece of legislation that criminalizes the production and ownership of child pornography at the federal level. Introduced by Senator Strom Thurmond with backing from conservative groups, the act expands the enforcement of anti-obscenity laws and categorizes any business that sells or transfers two or more "obscene" items for profit as illegal. A notable aspect of the act is its requirement for producers of various media to maintain records verifying the ages of their models and actors, shifting the burden of proof onto the accused. Consequently, failure to provide these records can lead to assumptions of guilt, placing businesses in a precarious legal position. The legislation also defines distributors broadly as any individuals or organizations involved in the sale or lending of obscene works. Its passage raised concerns among publishers, booksellers, and libraries about the potential implications for their operations, given the ambiguous language that could easily encompass these institutions. Despite attempts to clarify the definitions within the act, the lack of precise terms has left many uncertainties regarding enforcement and compliance.
Child Protection Restoration and Penalties Enforcement Act
Enacted: 1988
Place: United States (national)
Significance: Civil liberties groups regarded the language of this law as dangerously vague because its definitions of obscenity purveyors might be interpreted to apply to legitimate publishers, book dealers, and libraries
The Child Protection Restoration and Penalty Enforcement Act was part of a larger bill introduced by conservative senator Strom Thurmond, with the support of the Moral Majority and other conservative groups. The act made production or ownership of child pornography a federal crime. It broadened the general enforcement of antiobscenity laws by defining as an illegal business any that sell or transfer at least two “obscene” items with the intent of making a profit. The law strengthened enforcement of its provisions by placing certain burdens of proof on the accused. For example, it required producers of books, films, videos, commercial art, photographs, or other media to maintain records of the ages of the models and actors they used to make their materials. Failure to keep such records was deemed an assumption of guilt that could leave a business responsible for proving its own innocence. The act has defined distributors as any persons, organizations, or groups that sold or lent at least two obscene works.
Passage of this law alarmed American publishers, booksellers, and libraries because its language was broad enough to encompass such institutions. Various amendments have attempted to tighten the vague language in order to allow it to be successfully enforced, but none of these has clearly defined what constitutes a distributor of obscenity.