A proposed ordinance aimed at curbing obscenity will come up for public hearing Monday night before the Provo City Commission.
The measure is intended to strike at obscenity in any form, but especially on the magazine stands and in the movies.
The tentative draft was prepared by the city attorney’s office upon the strong recommendation of the Utah County Committee on Children and Youth, the Provo PTA Council working through its juvenile protection committee, and the Provo Police Department which feels the present law is antiquated and not in compliance with state statutes.
Two main objectives of the bill would be:
1. To give the city law enforcement arm the power to clear printed pornography and obscenity off the news stands upon the filing of a complaint.
2. To empower the law enforcement arm to halt the showing of a movie found to contain obscenity, also upon the issuance of a complaint.
In either case, it is understood, the defendant would come before the court on a misdemeanor charge, punishable by a fine of up in $299 or six months in jail, if found guilty.
The proposed measure is a companion law to the curfew ordinance paused some time ago. Also recommended by the committee on children and youth and backed by the PTA and schools, the curfew ordinance has been adopted by several other communities since Provo passed it, according to representatives of the committee.
The ordinance makes it unlawful for children under 16 to be loitering on the streets after 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. For minors over 16 the deadline is 11 p.m. on the five nights and 1 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. The measure also cracks down on sale and use of tobacco by young people under 19, tieing in with the state law adopted two years ago. The age on use of beer or alcohol is still 21. It further provides that if cigarette vending machines are accessible to minors, they must be electrically controlled so that they cannot be used except as the proprietor pushes the button.
Both of these ordinances appear to constitute a firm approach in controlling factors which contribute to moral decay in youth.
As the committee on children and youth and the PTAs point out, the laws should be adopted county-wide. Enforcement and the over-all result will be better if these laws are uniform throughout the area.
Community support is necessary in the case of such laws – not only in getting the right provisions included, but in enforcement. The law enforcement authorities alone cannot enforce this type of law. It will require the backing of parents, teachers, news stand operators, theaters – everybody. Passive approval isn’t sufficient; no law can be effectively enforced if only at handful of persons give active support.
Enthusiastic passage of the proposed obscenity law would be a demonstration to magazine and movie distributors than the Provo area does not want obscene literature and films. The demonstration would lose its punch, however, unless the people are willing to back up the law after it is passed.
Undoubtedly the Provo City Commission would welcome citizen opinion on the proposed ordinance at Monday night’s hearing. This is the time to speak up – to let the commissioners know whether you feel the measure should be passed, what provisions you would like to have included, and whether you would be willing to support the law.