JBcollector
Kraken
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Short answer: not necessarily. Current federal law prohibits distribution of obscene material (hardcore pornography) via the Internet, television (cable/satellite/broadcast and including hotel/motel pay channels), common carriers such as FedEx and UPS, U.S. mail, and wholesalers and retailers.
This fact may come as a surprise to the American public, since hardcore (and likely obscene) pornography is widely distributed on the Internet. This is because the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has not enforced federal obscenity laws vigorously since the Reagan/Bush presidencies and has not commenced a new adult obscenity case against a major commercial distributor of “adult” obscenity for more than a decade. DOJ’s failure to uphold the law is responsible for the tidal wave hardcore pornography that has flooded the Internet.
The word “pornography,” however, is not a legal term, and is presumptively protected by the First Amendment unless shown to be obscene. If the pornography is found to be obscene in a court of law, it is not protected speech. A jury or judge(s) ultimately determines if the specific pornographic material meets the legal definition of obscenity.
In Miller v. California the Supreme Court established a three-part test to determine if material is obscene. Those tests are:
This fact may come as a surprise to the American public, since hardcore (and likely obscene) pornography is widely distributed on the Internet. This is because the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has not enforced federal obscenity laws vigorously since the Reagan/Bush presidencies and has not commenced a new adult obscenity case against a major commercial distributor of “adult” obscenity for more than a decade. DOJ’s failure to uphold the law is responsible for the tidal wave hardcore pornography that has flooded the Internet.
The word “pornography,” however, is not a legal term, and is presumptively protected by the First Amendment unless shown to be obscene. If the pornography is found to be obscene in a court of law, it is not protected speech. A jury or judge(s) ultimately determines if the specific pornographic material meets the legal definition of obscenity.
In Miller v. California the Supreme Court established a three-part test to determine if material is obscene. Those tests are:
- Whether the average person, applying contemporary community standards would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest.
- Whether the average person, applying contemporary community standards would find that the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, hardcore sexual conduct.
- Whether a reasonable person would find that the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.
