Ira E. Isaacs (born 1951) is an American

pornographic Pornography (colloquially called porn or porno) is sexually suggestive material, such as a picture, video, text, or audio, intended for sexual arousal. Made for consumption by adults, pornographic depictions have evolved from cave paintings ...

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

and self-described "

shock art Shock art is contemporary art that incorporates disturbing imagery, sound or scents to create a shocking experience. It is a way to disturb "smug, complacent and hypocritical" people. While the art form's proponents argue that it is "imbedded with ...

ist." He was convicted of five federal counts of selling and distributing

obscene An obscenity is any utterance or act that strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time. It is derived from the Latin , , "boding ill; disgusting; indecent", of uncertain etymology. Generally, the term can be used to indicate strong moral ...

material in 2012.Kim, Victoria; Ahmad, Aida (April 28, 2012)
Fetish filmmaker convicted of obscenity charges.
''

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Life and career

Isaacs was born in the

South Bronx The South Bronx is an area of the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The area comprises neighborhoods in the southern part of the Bronx, such as Concourse, Bronx, Concourse, Mott Haven, Bronx, Mott Haven, Melrose, B ...

and attended Taft High School. Isaacs graduated the State University of New York in 1977. Isaacs does business as Stolen Car Films, LA Media and scatmovies.com, according to the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...

(USDOJ).Department of Justice press release (July 24, 2007)
California man charged with federal obscenity violations.
/ref>Gross, Grant (July 25, 2007)
U.S. Man Faces Online Porn Charges.
''

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Federal obscenity trials

2008 trial

In 2008 Isaacs was brought to trial in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

on federal

obscenity An obscenity is any utterance or act that strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time. It is derived from the Latin , , "boding ill; disgusting; indecent", of uncertain etymology. Generally, the term can be used to indicate strong moral ...

charges for videos featuring

scatology In medicine and biology, scatology or coprology is the study of faeces. Scatological studies allow one to determine a wide range of biological information about a creature, including its diet (and thus where it has been), health and diseases ...

and bestiality. At issue were obscene films sold between May 2004 and October 2006: ''Gang Bang Horse "Pony Sex Game,"'' ''Mako's First Time Scat,'' ''Hollywood Scat Amateurs No. 7,'' and ''BAE 20'' (also titled ''Avantgarde Extreme'').Daily News Wire Services (June 9, 2008)
Jury selection to start in federal obscenity case.
'' LA Daily News'' The prosecution alleged that the films are obscene, and have no

artistic merit Artistic merit is the artistic quality or value of any given work of art, music, film, literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art fo ...

. Isaacs claimed the films have both artistic and political value. The USDOJ

Obscenity Prosecution Task Force The Obscenity Prosecution Task Force (OPTF) was an organization created in 2005 by the United States Department of Justice. The OPTF's job was to investigate and prosecute producers and distributors of hardcore pornography that meets the legal tes ...

initiated prosecution on this case. The Bush administration formed the task force to investigate pornography at the urging of social conservative groups. On June 11, it was discovered that the judge presiding over the case, Alex Kozinski, had posted controversial material to his own website, prompting the suspension of the case. Kozinski declared a

mistrial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, ...

on June 13.

Double jeopardy motion

The Department of Justice filed to retry Isaacs on the same charges which prompted Isaacs to file a motion on

double jeopardy In jurisprudence, double jeopardy is a procedural defence (primarily in common law jurisdictions) that prevents an accused person from being tried again on the same (or similar) charges following an acquittal or conviction and in rare cases ...

. Isaac's motion was heard on September 8, 2008. Isaacs lost that hearing in the lower court and appealed to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. On December 22, 2009 the 9th Circuit decided against the artist's bid for his double jeopardy motion. On June 28, 2010 the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

denied hearing Isaacs' double jeopardy motion.

Further charges, retrial and conviction

Isaacs' second trial was initially set to be heard beginning May 17, 2011 but was delayed when prosecutors added further charges. The new indictment included three more charges relating to the sale and shipment of ''Hollywood Scat Amateurs No. 7'', as well as charges regarding four new videos, ''Hollywood Scat Amateurs No. 38'', ''Trailers'', ''Japanese Doggie 3 Way'', and ''Hollywood Scat Amateurs No. 10''. In June Isaacs' attorneys filed a motion to strike evidence suggesting Isaacs' provided controlled substances to the actresses in his films to compel them to perform. The case was presented to a jury in March 2012. A mistrial was declared on March 6, 2012 after jurors deadlocked on the charges. According to Isaacs, jurors voted 10-2 against him. The third trial in April 2012 resulted in convictions on all five federal counts of selling and distributing obscene material. Isaacs was sentenced to four years in prison in January 2013.

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(January 16, 2013)
Porn producer sentenced in obscenity case.
KMPH-TV On March 25, 2014, the

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts for the following federal judicial districts: * Distric ...

rejected Isaacs' appeal of his conviction. After serving 26 months at the Federal Correctional Institution, La Tuna in Anthony, Texas, Isaacs was released to a halfway house on September 14, 2016, Isaacs was released on March 8, 2017. He is reportedly writing a book on his three trials and his time in prison called ''OBSCENE—The People vs. Ira Isaacs'', due to be released in 2019.Isaacs, Ira (November 28, 2017
"Free Speech Fighter Needs your Help"
GoFundMe.

References