Los Angeles has one of the strangest legalized industries in the nation; namely, the adult industry, which employs actors, directors, producers, editing people, administrative folks, talent scouts and much more. What is most strange about this industry is that a variety of obscenity laws, passed by both state and federal governments, Republican and Democrats as well, directly target this industry.
Many in the adult industry hide behind the First Amendment to the Constitution, arguing that pornography is protected speech. However, the adult industry includes no only pornographers, but strippers, peep shows and everything that is essentially inappropriate for minors.
Most laws are targeted towards protecting children from exposure to pornography or adult shops (although some conservative groups manipulate these laws in order to make life difficult for porn shops and strip clubs).
There are Federal obscenity laws, such as 18 U.S.C. §§1460-1470, which forbid obscene materials (i.e. pornography) from being distributed across state lines if it violates state laws. Meaning that some materials legal in California are illegal in other states and it is illegal to ship those materials to those states from California. This targets mainly websites that people can buy pornography on and have shipped to them.
The California Penal code contains a great deal about obscene material, distribution and protecting minors. Penal Code 313(a) prohibits sales, displays, distributions of obscene materials to people under the age of 18. In the matter of Kathleen R. v. City of Livermore (California Appelate Court, 1st District 2001) involved obscene materials at public libraries.
The Free Speech Coalition however, fights for the rights of the adult industry. They view attacks against the adult industry as an attack on free speech. They are in a constant battle with the government over what they feel are abuses of certain laws and statutes. For example, 18 USC 2257 was enacted in 1988 and basically ordered all adult companies to keep a record of the proof of age of performers in the industry (in part as a reaction to Traci Lords performing while only 16 years old). Recent actions by primarily conservative government officials to crackdown on "supposed" abuses have caused some chaos in the industry, mainly because pornographers feel they are being unfairly treated and have done nothing wrong.
Los Angeles has long been a hot bed of legal action over this issue, as the San Fernando Valley is the main area in the world in producing pornography, which is a $4 - $12 billion industry per year, depending upon the source. The LA Times, the LA Daily News and other media outlets have performed a variety of expose's on the people and companies that produce and deal with this industry. The legal issues are ongoing, and the growth of porn on the Internet has fuiled a variety of new laws, lawsuits, backlashes, protests and general chaos.
The truth is the truth. Obscenity is wrong. There are not laws strong enough to protect the children of this country. Eveyone cries first ammendment rights. What about the rights of those who are being exploited?
Really, what is obscene anyway? Who is the arbiter of taste. It is funny that you can be a criminal in one state an not in another looking at the same material.