Last week, jurors watched nearly an hour of "Milk Nymphos" in the federal obscenity trial against pornographer John "Buttman" Stagliano. Headphones were provided, two TV screens were directed at the jury box, and 14 strangers were asked to perform their civic duty by drinking in, so to speak, this decidedly unwholesome ode to dairy enemas.

The coverage of the case, which was dismissed late Friday thanks to sloppy work by the Justice Department, largely focused on the legendary "Buttman" — but I kept thinking about the women in the film. What must it be like to be the focus of a rare federal obscenity trial in Washington, D.C., to have your work broadcast for people who hadn't sought it out, to be evaluated in terms of "community standards," offensiveness and "serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific" merit?...