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<br /> . <br /> 2Cp/SCJ. . <br /> Obscenity, however. should no longer be viewed as a victimless crime.~/ There is. .. <br /> mounting evidence that sexually oriented businesses are, as described earlier in this <br /> report, often associated with increases in crime rates and a decline in the quality of life . <br /> of neighborhoods in which they are located. Further. as discussed previously, when <br /> there is no prosecution of obscenity, large cash profits make pornographic operations I <br /> very attractive to members of organized crime. The Working Group thus believes that <br /> prosecution of obscenity, particularly cases involving children, violence or bestiality, . <br /> should assume a higher priority for law enforcement officials. <br /> In addition, many of the difficulties faced when prosecuting obscenity can be . <br /> addressed by adequate training and assistance. In order to prove that material is <br /> obscene, a prosecutor must prove: I <br /> (i) that the average person, applying contemporary community . <br /> standards would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient <br /> interest in sex; <br /> (ii) that the work depicts sexual conduct. . . in a patently offensive -. <br /> manner; and <br /> (iii) that the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, . <br /> political, or scientific value. <br /> Minn. Stat S 617.241, subd. 1(a)(i-iii) (1988). This statutory standard was drawn to be . <br /> consistent with constitutional standards set forth in ~, supra. . <br /> ~/ Two blue ribbon commissions have reached different conclusions regarding the I <br /> harrnfulness of sexually explicit material to individuals. A presidential Commission <br /> on Obscenity and Pornography concluded in 1970 that there was no evidence of I <br /> "Social or individual harms" caused by sexually explicit materials and, therefore, <br /> "federal, state and loca/legislation prohibiting the sale, exhibition, or distribution of <br /> sexual materials to consulting adults should be repealed." The Report of the I <br /> Comm'n on Obsceni and Porno ra h at 57-8 (Bantam Paperback ed. 1970). <br /> owever, In 1986, t e ttorney enera s ommrssion on Pornography concluded <br /> that "sexually violent materials. . . bear '" a causal relationship to antisocial acts <br /> of sexual vioience ". (and that] the evidence supports the conclusion that I <br /> substantiai exposure to (non-violent] degrading material increases the likelihood for <br /> an individual (to] . . . cornmit an act of sexual violence or sexual coercion." Attorney -. <br /> General's Comm'n on Pornography. 1 Final Report at 326, 333 (1986). <br /> -22- I <br /> - -- <br />