Citizens for Decent Literature
Encyclopedia
Citizens for Decent Literature was a pro-censorship
advocacy body founded in 1958 by the Roman Catholic anti-pornography campaigner Charles Keating
which advocated reading classics, not "smut."
It was later renamed a number of times, the best known of which names was Citizens for Decency through Law.
It would grow to 300 chapters and 100,000 members nationwide and become the largest anti-pornography organization in the nation. Over the following 20 years the organization mailed some 40 million letters on behalf of its position and had filed amicus curiae
briefs.
Under the name Citizens for Decency through Law, the CDL was still active as of 2002, although it did not have a website.
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
advocacy body founded in 1958 by the Roman Catholic anti-pornography campaigner Charles Keating
Charles Keating
Charles Humphrey Keating Jr. is an American athlete, lawyer, real estate developer, banker, and financier, most known for his role in the savings and loan scandal of the late 1980s....
which advocated reading classics, not "smut."
It was later renamed a number of times, the best known of which names was Citizens for Decency through Law.
It would grow to 300 chapters and 100,000 members nationwide and become the largest anti-pornography organization in the nation. Over the following 20 years the organization mailed some 40 million letters on behalf of its position and had filed amicus curiae
Amicus curiae
An amicus curiae is someone, not a party to a case, who volunteers to offer information to assist a court in deciding a matter before it...
briefs.
Under the name Citizens for Decency through Law, the CDL was still active as of 2002, although it did not have a website.
See also
- National Organization for Decent LiteratureNational Organization for Decent LiteratureThe National Organization for Decent Literature was an American pressure group active in campaigning for the censorship of literature. It was largely led by Roman Catholic priests. It was founded in 1938, and ran until the late 1960s...
- Churchmen's Committee for Decent PublicationsChurchmen's Committee for Decent PublicationsThe Churchmen's Committee for Decent Publications was a Protestant pro-censorship, anti-pornography advocacy group. It was a contemporary of the Roman Catholic National Organization for Decent Literature and the National Legion of Decency....
- National Legion of DecencyNational Legion of DecencyThe National Legion of Decency was an organization dedicated to identifying and combating objectionable content, from the point of view of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States, in motion pictures...