Michael Moriarty's stand on censorship has had a profound effect upon his life. On November 18, 1993 he attend a meeting with the Attorney General of the United States, Janet Reno. As a result of that meeting, Michael resigned from the TV series Law & Order where he had successfully portrayed Executive Assistant District Attorney Benjamin Stone for 4 years.
The following articles/books deal with Michael's stand on Censorship.
Moriarty, Michael. The Gift of Stern Angels, Exile Editions Limited (1997).
Dammit Janet. Reason Magazine
Moriarty says fear censors, not TV. (1993, December 20). Roanoke Times, Section, Extra, p. 2.
Out of "Order". (1994, January 31) The Philadelphia Inquirer, Section, Television.
Moriarty Quits Law & Order in Flap Over Censorship. (1994, February 2). National Public Radio
"In 3,000 years of human history, no one has ever dared to come to the conclusion that the fight scenes in Romeo and Juliet provoked the death of Christopher Marlowe."
Shain, M. & Scaduto, A. (1995, March, 29). INSIDE NEW YORK. Newsday, pp. A 14.
Flint, J. (1994, February 7). Moriarty quits, blames violence backlash. Broadcasting & Cable, p.22.
"According to Moriarty, Reno at the meeting said she knows, Murder, She Wrote has no violence, but said the show talks about nothing but violence."
Moriarty says this 'Law & Order' script is the writing on the wall. (1994, February 12). The Philidelphia Inquirer, p. D12.
"'I consider drama my vocation. It's not a job. It's a calling, and I take my art form very seriously. How dare anyone besmirch it and call it somehow responsible for the disease and outlaws in society?"'
Moriarty finds a new injustice. (1995, February 13). New York, p.12.
"'I am back in the thick of it,' he concludes. 'I'm a warrior.'"
Proffitt, S. (1994, March 6). Michael Moriarty. Los Angeles Times, p, M3.
"... all the people who've ever called for censorship in the world have ended up exposed as villains or clowns."
Michael Moriarty. (1994, July). Playboy, p. 138 - 142.
"If I had only had the courage to stand up in that room and tell her that she treated us shamefully, but I was with corporate people who take this kind of thing all day."
A free spirit thrives on freelancing. (1995, February 26). Philadelphia Inquirer, p. 4.
"The Clinton administration was ready for a get-tough campaign against TV violence, spearheaded by Reno, but Moriarty termed it 'creeping McCarthyism.'"