From the free legal encyclopedia Jrank.com, is this paragraph, from their summary of Lenny Bruce’s Café au Go Go obscenity prosecution (“the most controversial obscenity trial in American history”):

Herbert S. Rune, an inspector with the NYC Department of Licenses, was the final witness called to testify. He had watched Bruce perform, jotting down surreptitious notes. Over defense objections, he read out an edited version of Bruce’s act that highlighted the language used and virtually ignored the context. Worst of all was Rune’s assertion, bitterly denied by the defense, that Bruce had fondled the microphone in an obvious and suggestive manner.

These days, we don’t worry about such things as licensing inspectors or cops with brush cuts and shiny shoes sitting in the darkness at the back of the room. No, these days, we’re enlightened. Lenny Bruce’s world had angry and disgusted judges who gladly heard obscenity or drug cases, eager D.A.’s who sought to make their reputations by hounding high-profile comics and musicians, vindictive bureaucrats who granted or withheld cabaret licenses.

We’re so glad that’s not going on any more.

What we have nowadays is perhaps worse, in some ways. Take the case of Jo Koy.

Huffingtonpost.com is gleefully reporting on the latest comedian who has been forced to issue an apology for something he said onstage, during the course of a June 15 comedy performance– Jo Koy. During a recent performance in Chicago, Koy called someone in the audience a “fucking faggot.”

Someone else in the audience dutifully reported the incident to the Windy City times– which subsequently reported that Koy let loose with an “an anti-gay rant.” The show was at the Vic Theatre and was part of the Just For Laughs Festival. So we figure it was JFL who squeezed Koy’s testicles to produce the lightning-fast mea culpa.

Instead of an intricate chain of D.A.’s and judges and cops and inspectors conspiring to wipe out obscenity while burnishing their credentials or solidifying their re-election or fulfilling their duties as good little bureaucrats, we have citizen crusaders who take the airtight case directly to the court of public opinion.

Instead of cops wearing wiretaps or a former CIA agent in attendance or an awkward cop in the back of the house scribbling notes– which are then read back in open court, void of all context– we have eager busybodies with cellphones and Facebook blogs and Twitter accounts who dutifully report the egregious offenses of this comedian or that.

In this case, the comedian doesn’t even have the benefit of a trial or witnesses or an arraignment or a plea. In the court of public opinion, the comedian is guilty until proven guilty. The apology follows quickly and the “jury” decides exactly what the punishment will be.

Koy no doubt thought he had a pass by virtue of his frequent appearances on gay-friendly Chelsea Handler‘s late-night talk show. Turns out obtaining this pass is trickier than anyone can imagine.

We’ve been warning folks about such persecution for quite some time now. For years. Way back when, we told folks that they had better not throw Larry the Cable Guy under the bus. Initially, it might be white males with southern accents who are sacrificed to the PC gods, but we cautioned that they were just getting warmed up. (“They” being any group who feels aggrieved and who has the juice and the knowhow to whip the MSM into a righteous, anti-comedian frenzy. It might be a group that insists on spelling “womyn” with a “y,” or it might be the League of United Latin American Citizens or it might be GLAAD.)

Eventually, they got around to Sarah Silverman, then they set their sights on other trophies. When will it stop? It won’t.

And all along, fellow comedians insist on taking the side of the prosecution, perhaps hoping that such a show will immunize them against any future actions. It won’t.

Perhaps comedians should print out a formal apology, laminate it, keep it in a jacket pocket or in the wallet and whip it out when something is said onstage that might anger any professional grievance mongers. Reading it immediately after any possibly offensive statement might short-circuit the cyber kangaroo court and nip the whole “controversy” in the bud.

We might also suggest purchasing a digital recorder that slips easily into a pocket– the VN-7000 goes for $40 at Staples. Maybe a Flip camera, too. Paranoia? Not at all. The best offense is a good defense. If nothing else, the beleaguered comic can provide the context that never seems to survive these witch hunts.