Obama's Justice Pick Supports Porn Rights

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CHANGING OF THE GUARD
Obama's Justice pick supports porn 'rights'
Ogden's clientele, legal arguments, raise alarms

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Posted: February 03, 2009
8:58 pm Eastern


By Bob Unruh
© 2009 WorldNetDaily


President Obama has expressed his belief the U.S. Constitution should be interpreted through the lens of current events and now he's apparently preparing to install as a senior official at the U.S. Justice Department a lawyer who goes one step further, advocating for constitutional protections for abortionists, pornographers and protesters.

The evaluation of Justice Department nominee David Ogden, who would be deputy to Attorney General Eric Holder, comes from Fidelis, a consortium of organizations working to promote religious freedom, values of human life and the institutions of marriage and the family.

"Ogden is an abortion-on-demand absolutist. He opposes common sense restrictions on abortion, including policies that have significant support from the American people, such as parental notification by minors," the organizations said in a report today.

Also, "Ogden is an absolutist on pornography and obscenity. He opposes common sense restrictions on the ability of pornography peddlers to sell their products. He believes pornography users have a constitutional right to view pornography at a public library."

Additionally, "He believes private property owners' right to exclude protesters from their property must yield to the protesters' free speech right."

And he "supports a 'living Constitution' that changes to fit the latest fad of the intelligentsia," the report said.

Ogden's belief system appears to align with the sentiments expressed by Obama earlier. WND has reported Obama believes the Constitution is flawed because it does not mandate redistribution of wealth and he says the Supreme Court should have intervened years ago to accomplish that.

Obama also repeatedly has stated his desire for empathetic judges who "understand" the plight of minorities. In a 2007 speech to Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion provider, he said, "We need somebody who's got the heart, the empathy, to recognize what it's like to be a young teenage mom. The empathy to understand what it's like to be poor, or African-American, or gay, or disabled, or old. And that's the criteria by which I'm going to be selecting my judges."

Fidelis called Obama's nomination of Ogden, who was described as a "skilled manager" when his name was suggested for the Justice Department's No. 2 post, a "major mistake."

"David Ogden is a hired gun from Playboy and ACLU," said Brian Burch, president of the pro-family group. "He can't run from his long record of opposing common sense laws protecting families, women, and children. The United States Senate has a responsibility to the American people to insure that Mr. Ogden's full record is fully reviewed before any vote on his nomination."

The group's extensive research on Ogden cites his work on behalf of homosexuality in Lawrence vs. Texas, for Playboy and Penthouse on issues involving pornography and his representation of a company that distributes videos titled "Bubblegum cuties," "Sweet young things," "Young girls" and "Fresh and young."

"He has opposed filters on library computers protecting children from Internet smut, and successfully defended the right of pornographers to produce material with underage children," Burch said.

"Ogden even sued the federal government in an attempt to publish Braille versions of Playboy magazine – at taxpayer expense, of course," he said.

The report said Ogden has argued for the treatment of traditional definitions of marriage as a "social prejudice."

"At a time when America's families are under increasing assault, Mr. Ogden is a dangerous choice for a position whose responsibilities include the enforcement of our nation's laws," Burch said.

Fidelis spokesman Joshua Mercer told WND one of the major worries is that children should be protected from online sex predators and Ogden's position goes beyond free speech absolutism.

"There is no such thing as free speech to yell 'fire' in movie theaters," he said. "Child porn is not free speech either. It's disheartening that the president would pick someone with that kind of radical views of human sexuality. You don't want him as the No. 2 at Justice."

According to the Washington Post, which reported on Ogden's work leading the transition team at the Justice Department, he has "sterling Democratic credentials" and knowledge of the department from his work as chief of staff to ex-Attorney General Janet Reno.

Ogden, a partner at WilmerHale in Washington, D.C., also ran the department's civil division under President Clinton.

But among other criticisms, LifeNews.com has reported Ogden authored a brief in the U.S. Supreme Court arguing there were no negative effects from an abortion.

He wrote, "When women do experience regret, depression, or guilt, such feelings are mild and diminish rapidly without adversely affecting general functioning." He blamed those who have "negative" responses to abortion on "pre-existing emotional problems."

That would align with Obama's campaign statement that he didn't want his daughters "punished" with a son or daughter.

Fidelis, which has a Catholic-based value system and includes a flagship 501c4 group for lobbying and public education, a political action group, a Center for Law and Policy and the Fidelis Media Fund, has released its research online, calling Ogden an "Obscene Choice."

The report, replete with links to Ogden's actual court pleadings, confirm he has sought to push homosexuals in the military, extend racial preferences, oppose parental abortion notification, fought the Children's Internet Protection Act and more.

"In all of these cases he has demonstrated a troubling approach to judicial decision-making. Ogden supports a 'living Constitution' that changes to fit the latest fad of the intelligentsia," Fidelis said. "He believes that judges should rely heavily on social science when making decisions, that they should be 'compassionate' and partial to 'suffering' litigants, that they need not follow the Founders' intent for the Constitution, and that they should consider 'worldwide consensus' and international law when making their decisions. Click Here For Remainder of Story at www. worldnetdaily.com