WASHINGTON — Alliance Defense Fund President, CEO, and General Counsel Alan Sears and nearly 400 other pro-family advocates across the nation sent a joint letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder Wednesday, urging him to meet with them to discuss expanding the administration’s efforts to fight illegal, obscene pornography on a national level.

“Illegal pornography is destroying families and our culture. When it comes to deciding between protecting our families or the profits of pornographers, our families and our society come first,” said Sears, who was executive director of the Attorney General’s Commission on Pornography during the Reagan Administration. “The government should promote and encourage strong families by vigorously enforcing the existing federal laws designed to counter the plague of illegal pornography that is scourging this nation’s men, women, and children.”

The letter notes the proliferation of illegal pornography that has flooded homes, businesses, public libraries, and even schools since the advent of the Internet.

“Pornography addiction is now common among men, women, and even many children,” the letter states. “Children are creating cell phone child pornography, in a new trend called, ‘sexting.’ Pornography use is now a significant factor in divorce. Hotels, motels, cable and satellite companies, and other businesses are making tremendous profits by offering illegal, obscene pornography.”

The letter quotes Holder from 1998: “Thus, priority should be given to cases involving large-scale distributors who realize substantial income from multistate operations and cases in which there is evidence of organized crime involvement. However, prosecution of cases involving relatively small distributors can have a deterrent effect and would dispel any notion that obscenity distributors are insulated from prosecution if their operations fail to exceed a predetermined size or if they fragment their business into small-scale operations....  Because of the nature of the Internet and the availability of agents trained in conducting criminal investigations in cyberspace, investigation and prosecution of Internet obscenity is particularly suitable for federal resources.”

The letter closes with an open invitation for a meeting to discuss the issue:  “We urge you to continue to speak out publicly against illegal pornography and encourage U.S. Attorneys to fulfill their obligations under federal law and vigorously prosecute the purveyors of obscenity.... We value your past efforts and accomplishments in the fight against illegal obscenity thus far and trust that we can discuss ways to partner with you on this crucial endeavor to further protect children and families.”