How to Report About Possible Violations of Federal Obscenity Laws
Instructions for Using the Federal Report Form
A central plank in any program of citizen support for obscenity law enforcement is the submission of reports to your local United States Attorney, who is responsible for enforcement of the Federal obscenity laws.
To assist you in this, Morality in Media has designed a Federal Obscenity Report Form (also available in either MS Word format or Adobe Acrobat Reader format; if you need the Adobe Acrobat Reader you can download it for free from this link).
You will note that, with this form, you are not initiating a criminal prosecution. You are only making a report, exercising your right as a citizen to have the proper official investigate a possible violation of the law.
The MIM Web site has a complete list of the U.S. Attorney's offices. Go to the link on our Obscenity Enforcment page.
You should have a copy of the Federal obscenity laws (18 USC 1460-1468; 47 USC 223). If you don't, you can get it from the Web site of the U.S. House of Representatives, which has an online version of the U.S. Code.
Step by step instructions
- Use the Federal Obscenity Report Form available in
- Fill in the "To" spaces with the address of your nearest U.S. Attorney (you can go to the link on our Obscenity Enforcment page to find the nearest one).; fill in the "From" spaces with your name and address.
- Please note the three-pronged test for obscenity that follows the words, "In My Opinion." In order to be found obscene and in violation of federal laws, the material must meet all three tests.
- Check off the box as appropriate under "I Am Reporting About."
- In the space marked, "Name/address of company . . . ," show the name and address of the "adult business" or local "mainstream" video store, magazine stand, cable or satellite TV operator, etc. If you are complaining about a World Wide Web site, fill in the complete Uniform Resource Locator [URL] (e.g., http://www.[name of site]); if a dial-a-porn problem, the phone number, including area code or other prefix; if a TV program, provide both the cable or satellite TV company name and address and the channel name and number.
- In the space marked "Description of matter," indicate the type of matter (video, magazine, pay-per-view film, etc.) and its title.
- Check off the boxes as appropriate under "Which Depicted or Described Sexual Conduct." You can choose more than one box.
- Send the original filled-out form to your U.S. Attorney, keep one copy for yourself, and send one copy to Morality in Media.
Warning -- Making false statements to Federal officials is a crime! You should know that making a materially false statement or representation to a Federal official is a crime. The relevant text of the United States Code is:
TITLE 18 -- CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
PART I -- CRIMES
CHAPTER 47 -- FRAUD AND FALSE STATEMENTS
Sec. 1001. Statements or entries generally
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, whoever, in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the Government of the United States, knowingly and willfully- ...
2. makes any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation; or
3. makes or uses any false writing or document knowing the same to contain any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry;...
shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both.