On Valentine’s Day, 2005, President Bush swore US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales into office. Immediately, Gonzales made it clear the aggressive pursuit of obscenity prosecutions would be among his top priorities. In the eyes of the administration, former Attorney General John Ashcroft’s performance in the realm of obscenity prosecutions was sorely lacking. Gonzales took action. Three days later, in his first public decision on a legal matter, Gonzales declared that he would be seeking to reinstate a 10-count obscenity indictment against Robert Zicari, aka Rob Black, and Janet Romano, aka Lizzy Borden, a Porn Valley couple known for extreme porn featuring the simulated rape and murder of women. Their case, United States v. Extreme Associates, had been dismissed the previous month. Next, Gonzales readied his offense. On May 5, 2005, he announced the formation of the Obscenity Prosecution Task Force. On July 28, 2005, the FBI sent an electronic communication, on behalf of Gonzales and FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III, to all 56 of its field offices, recruiting for a “porn squad,” as the Washington Post dubbed it. On October 5, 2005, federal agents raided the Altadena, California, offices of one Paul Little, aka Max Hardcore, arguably the industry’s most controversial director, due to his fondness for having of-age starlets claim underage status on camera. On December 8, 2005, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit released its decision to reinstate the 10-count indictment against Zicari and Romano. On May 23, 2006, adult film producer Jeff Steward was handed an 18-count federal obscenity indictment for four movies he produced, among them “American Bukkake 13.” If, indeed, the Bush administration is preparing to launch its War on Porn, this will be the biggest year in porn since obscenity was defined over three decades ago.
