A Shreveport man has been found guilty of obscenity for selling X-rated tapes to undercover officers. Dan Birman, 23, is the owner of Fantasy Video, and now faces 6 months to 3 years in prison, and a fine of up to $2,500. Lincoln Parish DA Bob Levy appears to be on some sort of Ashcroftian anti-porn crusade, and set out to prove that Shreveport’s community standards don’t allow for explicit sexual behavior on tape. The conviction is on appeal.

Now community standards are notoriously fluid things; I suspect it’s possible to show that question to be settled either way, depending on the evidence brought to trial (how about those in-room motel movie rental records?). The bigger problem here isn’t porn vs. puritans; it’s the fact that the D.A. and the state troopers apparently don’t have enough actual crime to pursue — you know, with victims, and maybe even violence — so they decided on an undercover porn operation. I’m sure the good people of Lincoln parish feel much safer now.