By Kathleen Gilbert

WASHINGTON, D.C., February 13, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Senate Judiciary committee has prolonged the decision-making process in regard to ratifying David W. Ogden as Obama’s pick for deputy attorney general.

The Senate was expected to have voted on Ogden after a committee hearing last week, but the vote has been delayed until after the Senate’s recess next week.

Ogden is considered a controversial pick for the office, due to the fact that he represented several media groups to challenge provisions of the Child Protection and Obscenity Enforcement Act of 1988 and the Child Protection Restoration and Penalties Enhancement Act of 1990.

He has argued that requiring the pornography industry to personally verify that models were no younger than 18 would "burden too heavily and infringe too deeply on the right to produce First Amendment protected material." 

Ogden also submitted a Supreme Court brief on behalf of the ACLU that defended a man convicted under the federal child pornography statute on account of the man’s videotapes, titled "Little Girl Bottoms (Underside)" and "Little Blondes," which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit had found "clearly were designed to pander to pedophiles."  Ogden argued that the man should not be prosecuted because they are technically not pornography under the Constitution. 

One of Ogden’s past clients is PHE, Inc., the largest distributor of hard-core porn videos in the U.S., which has distributed DVDs with titles that include terms such as "School girls," "Bubblegum cuties," "Sweet young things," "Young Girls," and "Fresh and Young." 

When Ogden appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, he distanced himself from his history, saying, "I believe that child pornography laws are extremely important. Child pornography is abhorrent."

However, Brian Burch, president of the pro-family watchdog organization Fidelis, expressed little confidence in what he termed Ogden’s "confirmation conversion."

"David Ogden is a hired gun from Playboy and the ACLU. He can’t run from his long record of opposing common sense laws protecting families, women and children," said Burch. "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."

"Now, as pornography spreads like a virus, commandeering our homes, schools, entertainment and public spaces, women and children can expect the same justice from lawyers who serve Big Porno that blacks got from lawyers who served Jim Crow," warned child pornography expert Dr. Judy Reisman in a WorldNetDaily column.  "David Ogden cannot bite the pornography hands that have fed him, nor can his handpicked team."

To see Fidelis’ dossier on Ogden:
http://www.scribd.com/full/11607068?access_key=key-18yr2u50t...

To contact your senators regarding the Ogden appointment:
U.S. Capitol switchboard: 202-224-3121
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

See previous LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

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