Pornography: Is Smut Good for You?

When they were leaked to the press two months ago, some of the more libertarian conclusions of the President's Commission on Obscenity and Pornography enraged those who fear that smut is polluting U.S. morals. Released officially and in full last week, the report of the panel's majority gave critics more to complain about than their wildest fantasies could have conjured up. Not only is pornography guiltless as a cause of crime, delinquency, deviance or emotional disturbance, said the majority, it can actually strengthen conjugal ties.

Of the group's 18 members, twelve viewed...