Online

Morality in Media Program Grant May Be in Danger

By: Bianca Fox

Posted: 08/11/2007

WASHINGTON - A Department of Justice grant that pays retired law officers to patrol websites for obscene material may be nearing its end.

A Congressional earmark, which Republican Rep. Frank R. Wolf of Virginia had inserted into a spending bill, created the two Justice Department grants that have paid officers $150,000 each per year to review websites for obscene material and identify purveyors who should be prosecuted.

Justice Department officials reportedly are on the fence about drafting a third grant for Morality in Media, a conservative religious group formed in 1962 to "rid the world of pornography."

The officers paid by the grant review Internet-obscenity complaints made at ObscenityCrimes.org. Nearly 67,000 complaints from state and U.S. attorney districts have been filed since June 2002, according to data presented on the website. No prosecutions have been made.