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Porn Lawyer Has a 'Confirmation Conversion' at Senate Hearing

CHICAGO, February 6, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – David Ogden, nominated by President Obama to help lead the Department of Justice, was grilled by lawmakers yesterday during his confirmation hearing.

Ogden’s nomination has been a source of controversy, due to the fact that he has a long record of arguing against child pornography laws, and for a virtually unlimited abortion license.  He has represented clients such as Playboy, Penthouse, and the ACLU.

"You've taken some very extraordinary positions, some left-leaning and unorthodox positions," Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz. told Ogden during yesterday’s hearings.

In the process of the hearing, however, Ogden experienced what Fidelis, a coalition of pro-family organizations, has called a 'Confirmation Conversion' and claimed to have abandoned the library of liberal views he spent his career advancing.

Brian Burch, President of Fidelis, described Ogden's performance before the Senate Judiciary Committee as "a textbook example of an ambitious nominee saying whatever he needs to say to get the votes for confirmation."

When pressed by Senators on his views during his confirmation hearing, Ogden completely reversed his extreme views on numerous subjects.

According to Ogden, despite a career of arguing the opposite, he now believes child pornography laws and internet filters are constitutional and extremely important. "Child pornography is abhorrent," Ogden said, adding later, "Issues of children and families have always been of great importance to me."

When asked about pro-pornography memos he wrote his former boss, Justice Blackmun, Ogden responded that he regretted the memos and maintained that his vigorous opposition to the Moral Majority and the regulation of pornography was due to immaturity.

Ogden also said he could not remember whether previous arguments against pornography regulation were made on behalf of paying clients, or whether he made them when working "for the public good" (pro bono publico).

And when asked about quotes detailing his view that judges should allow compassion to affect their impartiality, Ogden stated that he believed constitutional principles were fixed and that the law should be the ultimate factor in a judge's decision-making process.

According to Burch, "Ogden spent his entire life arguing for far left extremist positions.  And he expects us to believe he has matured and abandoned those views now that he is before the Senate?  What we have here is a nominee who knows that his views and Obama's views on the law are far out of the mainstream in America, so he is adjusting his rhetoric to get the votes he needs."

Fidelis said that it remains committed to its previous statement that President Obama made a major mistake and put America's families at risk by selecting David Ogden to become Deputy Attorney General.

See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Obama Picks Porn Lawyer for #2 at Justice
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/feb/09020401.html

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