President Barack Obama’s Justice Department has quietly agreed to move a pornography prosecution out of socially conservative Montana to more urbane New Jersey – fueling perceptions by some attorneys that the new administration is stepping back from the aggressive approach the Bush administration took to prosecuting obscenity.

“This is a substantial change of position,” said Louis Sirkin, an attorney who has represented many in the pornography industry, including Hustler publisher Larry Flynt. “The new administration has come in there and made a new determination….It certainly is different than what we have seen in the past.”

“I think it has a lot to do with the change in administration,” said a former federal prosecutor, Laurie Levenson of Loyola Law School. “It makes you wonder how far they were pushing the envelope before…..These cases are fraught with problems and are not a high priority.” Read On

JENNY SANFORD South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford seems to be in the news a lot these days – with the cross-continent affair to the new accusations of misused state funds. One of the earliest comments he gave regarding his affair caught me completely off guard. He said, “This was a whole lot more than a simple affair—it was a love story.” He went on to share that he views his recent love interest, Maria Chapur, as his soul mate.

After twenty years as a divorce recovery expert, I’ve heard many people use similar words. It’s not uncommon for someone to become convinced that the “forbidden lover” is their “love of a lifetime.”

Sanford went on to share that he is, “trying to fall back in love with his wife.” If that’s true, what’s it going to take to restore this marriage? Is it possible to put “Humpty Dumpty” together again? Read On

SHRIVER FOR LIFE -- Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who emerged from a powerful male-dominated political family to found the Special Olympics and become a leading advocate of the mentally disabled, died Tuesday at the age of 88.

With the passing of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the nation has lost an unwavering defender of the vulnerable, says Concerned Women of America. Along with her much-touted work as founder of the Special Olympics, Mrs. Shriver was also a staunch pro-life advocate. Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser remembers Eunice and her role with the Susan B. Anthony List as well as other pro-life efforts including the ground-breaking 1992 ad in the New York Times protesting the Democratic Party's embrace of the abortion-rights agenda in its platform. Yet, Dannenfelser adds that Shriver's greatest influence was not political, but through her encouragement of those who fight for "the least of these" on a daily basis. Read On

WHAT ABOUT ELIZABETH EDWARDS? Former presidential candidate John Edwards will admit he is the father of his former campaign aide's 18-month-old baby, a TV news station in North Carolina reports. WRAL says sources told the station Edwards' public admission could come before the end of the ongoing criminal investigation into whether his campaign illegally paid the woman, campaign videographer Rielle Hunter, to keep quiet about their affair. The news comes a day after the National Enquirer reported that a secret DNA test proved Edwards' paternity. The Enquirer, which last year broke the story of Edwards' affair with Hunter, said the test was taken after Hunter tried to get financial help from Edwards for her 18-month-old daughter, Frances. Hunter apparently agreed to testify to a federal grand jury investigating whether Edwards broke campaign finance law by paying "hush" money to Hunter and another aide who claimed paternity of the child. Hunter was spotted last week in Raleigh, N.C., entering a federal courthouse, where she spent nine hours. Read On

NOT FIGHTING Kansas Attorney General Steve Six has chosen not to fight a court decision allowing billboards for sexually oriented businesses. The Legislature had passed a ban on sex-shop signs within a mile of state highways. State Sen. Tim Huelskamp is upset with Six's decision. "Instead of fighting the challenge, the attorney general's office simply rolled over and refused to defend our law," the Republican lawmaker said. "We're extremely disappointed that we don't have a better advocate for Kansas families." Six said there's not enough money to pursue the case. But Huelskamp questioned the cost of not going after sexually oriented businesses. Given the impact of porn shops on our communities," he said, "what is the actual price of avoiding another rape, another type of sex crime, another molestation of a child?"— Steve Jordahl reporting for CitizenLink.

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