The Government vs. Erotica
Although this episode may sound like a police action in the former East Germany, it was in fact implemented by the U.S. Department of Justice, then headed by Edwin Meese, against Adam & Eve, a North Carolina business that sells contraceptives, sex toys, and adult videos. Now, the company's owner, Phil Harvey, offers a firsthand account of this David-and-Goliath battle. The Goverment vs. Erotica goes to the heart of our national debate over First Amendment freedom of expression versus government attempts to limit the availability of erotic materials.
Harvey's personal memoir of an eight-year struggle-eventually victorious-against the strong-arm tactics of the Justice Department raises important questions about federal abuse of power, the slow erosion of First Amendment rights through government intimidation, the effects of pornography, the archaic laws that attempt to regulate sexuality between consenting adults, the class-war implications of this battle, and the relationship between sex and religion.
The Government vs. Erotica provides a detailed account of the inner workings of the legal process and of the feisty owners and managers of a small company determined to stand up for their rights. This controlled, yet suspenseful and humorous story is a wake-up call for all who would be complacent about their First Amendment rights.
Philip D. Harvey. The Government vs. Erotica: The Siege of Adam & Eve™. Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books, 2001. 296 pp.
