David Ogden

An attorney described at his nomination to the No. 2 post in President Obama's U.S. Justice Department as a "hired gun" for pornography apparently is leaving his post and returning to his private law practice in Washington.

Deputy Attorney General David W. Ogden will step down Feb. 10, the Washington Post reporting, citing sources familiar with the department's staff moves.

Ogden has been managing daily operations in the department of more than 100,000 workers.

The report said Ogden lacked experience with criminal law issues and has had conflicts with the staff of Attorney General Eric Holder.

WND reported the outrage by a wide range of individuals and organizations over his selection, including Fidelis, a consortium of groups working to promote religious freedom, values of human life and the institutions of marriage and family.

In its report on Ogden, the group called him an "abortion-on-demand" absolutist, charging he opposes common sense restrictions on abortion. Further, he believes pornography would be protected constitutionally and private property owners' rights must cede to protesters who want to express free speech rights.

"David Ogden is a hired gun from Playboy and ACLU," said Brian Burch, president of Fidelis, when he called on the U.S. Senate to "fully review" Ogden's work.

The group cited Ogden's work on behalf of homosexuality in Lawrence vs. Texas, for Playboy and Penthouse on issues involving pornography and his representation of a company that distributes videos titled "Bubblegum cuties," "Sweet young things," "Young girls" and "Fresh and young."

"He has opposed filters on library computers protecting children from Internet smut and successfully defended the right of pornographers to produce material with underage children," Burch said.

"Ogden even sued the federal government in an attempt to publish Braille versions of Playboy magazine – at taxpayer expense, of course," he said.

LifeNews.com has reported Ogden authored a brief in the U.S. Supreme Court arguing there were no negative effects from an abortion.

He wrote, "When women do experience regret, depression, or guilt, such feelings are mild and diminish rapidly without adversely affecting general functioning." He blamed those who have "negative" responses to abortion on "pre-existing emotional problems."

Fidelis, which has a Catholic-based value system and includes a flagship 501c4 group for lobbying and public education, a political action group, a Center for Law and Policy and the Fidelis Media Fund, released its research online, calling Ogden an "obscene choice."

The report, with links to Ogden's actual court pleadings, confirmed he has sought to push homosexuals in the military, extend racial preferences, oppose parental notification in abortion cases, fought the Children's Internet Protection Act and more.

"In all of these cases he has demonstrated a troubling approach to judicial decision-making. Ogden supports a 'living Constitution' that changes to fit the latest fad of the intelligentsia," Fidelis said. "He believes that judges should rely heavily on social science when making decisions, that they should be 'compassionate' and partial to 'suffering' litigants, that they need not follow the Founders' intent for the Constitution, and that they should consider 'worldwide consensus' and international law when making their decisions."

According to the report, his statements include:

• "There is no question that the right to secure an abortion is fundamental."

• "[T]he mainstream view in the mental health professions is that the most appropriate response of a therapist treating an individual who is troubled about his or her homosexual feelings is to help that person cope with social prejudices against homosexuality and lead a happy and satisfying life as a lesbian or gay man."

• "By demanding that libraries be censors and devote resources – not to facilitating – but to interfering with patrons' pursuit of information and ideas, Congress has subverted the role of librarians and public libraries and violated the First Amendment rights of library patrons."

Ogden also argued to force the Library of Congress to print Playboy in Braille and argued against including Playboy on a list of pornographic magazines potentially cited in the Meese Commission report.

Judith Reisman, a Ph.D. researcher and scholar whose exposés of sex researcher Alfred Kinsey have appeared in several books, including "Kinsey: Crimes & Consequences" and, most recently, a new DVD called "The Kinsey Syndrome," also worried about Ogden's influence.

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