Four years ago, a video-store owner in Provo, Utah, named Larry Peterman was charged with obscenity for selling and renting adult movies. What most people in the Mormon state thought of porn seemed obvious. Between 2001 and this past spring, when the position was eliminated to save money, Utah was the only state to have a "porn czar" -- a state prosecutor whose sole job was determining what could be considered obscene. And Utah County, which includes Provo, is considered one of the most conservative enclaves in a conservative state.
Yet when Peterman's lawyer asked local hotels and cable and satellite providers how many of their customers bought or rented adult movies, he discovered that the residents of this very traditional community were also disproportionately large consumers of the very same type of materials that prosecutors had deemed obscene and illegal for Peterman to sell. A jury quickly acquitted him of all charges.
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Four years ago, a video-store owner in Provo, Utah, named Larry Peterman was charged with obscenity for selling and renting adult movies. What most people in the Mormon state thought of porn seemed obvious. Between 2001 and this past spring, when the position was eliminated to save money, Utah was the only state to have a "porn czar" -- a state prosecutor whose sole job was determining what could be considered obscene. And Utah County, which includes Provo, is considered one of the most conservative enclaves in a conservative state.
Yet when Peterman's lawyer asked local hotels and cable and satellite providers how many of their customers bought or rented adult movies, he discovered that the residents of this very traditional community were also disproportionately large consumers of the very same type of materials that prosecutors had deemed obscene and illegal for Peterman to sell. A jury quickly acquitted him of all charges.