Porn industry to Rick Santorum: Butt out

Though Santorum rattles off a list of social harms that he says is caused by porn, he doesn’t specifically call for a ban on all porn in his website statement. Instead, he says, he’s most concerned about exposure to “hardcore” porn.

“While the Obama Department of Justice seems to favor pornographers over children and families, that will change under a Santorum Administration,” he writes.

Hirsch says a crackdown by the attorney general won’t work.

“We’ve seen that before. John Ashcroft was that guy. Edwin Meese was that guy. They can prosecute but ultimately it’s juries that decide what is and isn’t obscene,” Hirsch says. “Over last 20 years there have been very, very few obscenity convictions.”

Hirsch suggests making a deal with Santorum: “We will stay out of his church, and he will stay out of our bedrooms.”