How Did Leonard Pitt Decide When It's Art Or Porn

The first amendment guarantees the right of free expression to all citizens of the United States. Leonard Pitt’s writing “Who decides if it’s art or porn?” brings up a major issue with the first amendment of free expression. Pitts states his thesis towards the end of his article with the two questions, “What is the line where obscenity ends and art begins? And who gets to say?” I’m not entirely sure about the answer to the first question, but I do know that the government and the judges of the court have the power to decide what the difference is. Pitts begins his article by drawing the reader in with his first statement that says, “YOU CAN’T BLAME Karen Fletcher for deciding not to fight.” This instantly made me as a reader, interested in finding out what Karen didn’t fight for. Pitts goes on to tell about Karen Fletcher, a pornographer, who was prosecuted for writing stories portraying the violent abuse of children. Fletcher received six months of house arrest, five years on probation, and a one thousand dollar fine as her punishment. Pitts brings up the classical argument that Fletcher is being punished for something she
As I said earlier, words do in fact have weight, especially stories dealing with such a controversial thing such as child abuse. Fletcher’s stories might not of physically hurt any children but readers of these stories could take them for something else and use the ideas to cause someone else harm. Pitts is correct when he says that the world does not suffer from the loss of Fletcher’s work. If anything, the world suffers from her stories, all they do is promote the rape, torture, and murder of children, all of which are horrible. And there is no good in that because child abuse is indeed illegal in the United States. In my opinion, Fletcher’s stories are not in any way art, they’re just plain