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Sensenbrenner Wants to Criminalize TV Indecency

Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) has come up with another doozy of a crime bill: Instead of fining those who make indecent comments on television, let's throw them in jail.

Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner III, R-Wis., told cable industry executives attending the National Cable & Telecommunications Assn. conference here on Monday that criminal prosecution would be a more efficient way to enforce the indecency regulations. "I'd prefer using the criminal process rather than the regulatory process," Sensenbrenner told the executives.

People who are in flagrant disregard should face a criminal process rather than a regulator process," Sensenbrenner said. "That is the way to go. Aim the cannon specifically at the people committing the offenses, rather than the blunderbuss approach that gets the good actors.

Sensenbrenner is a one-man disaster for justice. He's been the driving force behind the Real ID Act and bills to strip judges of their discretion in sentencing and subpoena judges' records. In 2004, he wanted to add mandatory minimum penalties to non-violent drug offenses (one example: a five year mandatory minimum sentence for passing a joint to someone who had been in a treatment center.)

He was a a holdout to the bitter end on the Innocence Protection Act and architect of its watered down version which is a victims' rights bill; and a relentless crusader for the Amber Alert bill that included the Feeney Amendment on sentencing and Joe Biden's anti-RAVE bill as amendments.

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    Well its certainly alot harder to get people to personally abhor indecency on T.V. I say go for it.

    Re: Sensenbrenner Wants to Criminalize TV Indecenc (none / 0) (#2)
    by clio on Tue Apr 05, 2005 at 06:34:30 PM EST
    It's unkind to speculate, and impossible to know, but Mr. Sensenbrenner is so very controlling one has to wonder what life is like on the Sensenbrenner domestic front. The imagination boggles.

    Clio, have you seen his pictures? Controlling and ugly. More important--when's this jackass up for reelection and who does Wisconsin have in the Democratic primary?

    Re: Sensenbrenner Wants to Criminalize TV Indecenc (none / 0) (#4)
    by john horse on Tue Apr 05, 2005 at 08:02:56 PM EST
    Lets go after the real indecency in this country. Starting with a President who misleads our country into going to war. I think that the 1,500 Americans who have been killed and the billions wasted on this war is obscene. If the Republicans had any decency standards they wouldn't have killed the attempt to raise the minimum raise from $5.15 to $7.25. If the Republicans had any decency standards, they would be investigating prisoner abuse in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo instead of covering it up. If the Republicans had any decency standards, they would be cleaning up their own house starting with their Speaker Tom Delay. If the Republicans had any sense of decency, they would not have played politics with Terri Shiavo. If Sensenbrenner wants to investigate indecency, let me suggest that he begin by looking in the mirror.

    Don't forget his bizarrely passionate mission to split the Ninth Circuit.

    Actually, I wouldn't mind if he or somebody would get rid of the 4-hour erection ads.

    Sensenbrenner: Isn't he the guy who led off on the Schiavo bill (and mispronounced both Schiavo and Schindler, which kind of undermined the sense he really cared enough about poor Terri to find out the facts)? Indeed he is exactly that guy. I wonder how our libertarian friends feel about Sensenbrenner in the light of his desire to lock up the televisionally indecent?

    Re: Sensenbrenner Wants to Criminalize TV Indecenc (none / 0) (#8)
    by kdog on Wed Apr 06, 2005 at 06:24:19 AM EST
    Sensenbrenner...enemy of the state. BTW...Everytime a good movie is on the networks or basic cable, and they overdub the f*cks w/ "freak" or "flip", it pisses me off to no end. F*ck has become the most common adjective/verb/noun in our everyday vernacular, at least in my neck of the woods. What's the big deal at this point?

    Re: Sensenbrenner Wants to Criminalize TV Indecenc (none / 0) (#9)
    by desertswine on Wed Apr 06, 2005 at 10:14:36 AM EST
    they overdub the f*cks
    Jeez, you even overdubbed your own f*cks.

    Re: Sensenbrenner Wants to Criminalize TV Indecenc (none / 0) (#10)
    by kdog on Wed Apr 06, 2005 at 11:18:36 AM EST
    Only out of respect for the host, not for fear of being "obscene". Sad though, isn't it dwine.

    kDog, much appreciated.

    Re: Sensenbrenner Wants to Criminalize TV Indecenc (none / 0) (#12)
    by Jlvngstn on Wed Apr 06, 2005 at 01:04:10 PM EST
    I wish that law would pass, then we could prosecute Dick Cheney for sayin the same on the senate floor, I believe that aired on cspan.

    Re: Sensenbrenner Wants to Criminalize TV Indecenc (none / 0) (#13)
    by Sailor on Wed Apr 06, 2005 at 01:27:13 PM EST
    desertswine & kdog, it isn't so much as respect for our host's sensibilities as to make TL available to SFW communities. My personal take is that the (hardly ever*) rw isn't content with their lapdog fining folks millions of $$, they want to lock up people who disagree with their shifting moral standards. * YWKSCTPAWB** ** yes, we know skippy coined that phrase along with 'blogtopia';-)

    Re: Sensenbrenner Wants to Criminalize TV Indecenc (none / 0) (#14)
    by desertswine on Wed Apr 06, 2005 at 02:14:38 PM EST
    I wish that law would pass, then we could prosecute Dick Cheney for sayin the same on the senate floor, I believe that aired on cspan.
    Do you mean Dick "D*ck" Cheney?

    Re: Sensenbrenner Wants to Criminalize TV Indecenc (none / 0) (#15)
    by Sailor on Wed Apr 06, 2005 at 04:25:20 PM EST
    desertswine - good point about context, one should always d!%k cheney before he d!%k$ you;-)

    Re: Sensenbrenner Wants to Criminalize TV Indecenc (none / 0) (#16)
    by kdog on Thu Apr 07, 2005 at 07:11:56 AM EST
    That's what I meant sailor, I didn't think our host had a personal objection to a few f bombs. Which is kind of what I was getting at...who exactly is offended by the "seven dirty words" anymore, besides the small minority of fundamentalist crazies? The local slang, in NY at least, includes an f bomb every other sentence. And this guy Senselessbrener wants to jail people over broadcasting a few words that can be heard everyday in schoolyards and street corners across America? The whole issue is nonsensical. TV simply isn't entertaining when show creators are limited by the moral standards of the fundamentalist christian minority. Notice all the best newer shows are on HBO (Sopranos, Deadwood, Six Feet Under), where swearing and a little nudity are allowed. Basic TV is awful as it is, if this mook gets his way we will all be watching "Leave it to Beaver" again. TL...my pleasure.

    I'd prefer using the criminal process rather than the regulatory process," Sensenbrenner told the executives.
    It does have a bit of a comical irony in imagining Janet AND Michael Jackson doing hard time together. :) Does Sensenbrenner have Private Jail Lobbyists visiting his office much?