The porn czar's official title is the State Obscenity and Pornography Ombudsman. The name "porn czar" evokes images of some guy sitting there in an office flipping through the latest Playboy, but a porn czar must be a trained attorney with a lot of experience in obscenity cases. It has been about a year since Paula Houston has taken office, and for the most part, she has not gone out on an all-out rampage against uncovered boobies. Quite the contrary, she has worked closely with state legislators on a law that now allows minors to see artistic nudity - before, it was illegal for minors to see Michelanglo's 'David'!.
She has ran into opposition getting the law passed; the ultra-conservative Eagle Forum opposed it. I present to you this quote:
Houston is trying to bring Utah law in line with federal case law, but some legislators don't want Utah's public indecency laws changed.
The high court requires states to allow minors access to material with serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value ... or their statutes could be deemed unconstitutionally overbroad.
Members of the Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Interim Committee couldn't see anything of serious value with material that deals with illicit sex. And the Utah Eagle Forum suggested that Utah challenge the Supreme Court's admonition.
"Do we care what the Supreme Court said?" Eagle Forum president Gayle Ruzicka said.
The porn czar's office reflects Utah's belief that pornography is like a drug; indeed, Paula Houston remains the first - and only - state-appointed obscenity ombudsman in the entire United States.
She even has a home page!
http://www.attygen.state.ut.us/pornography.html
source: deseretnews.com archives