What is obscenity when you know it?

The phrase was used in 1964 by United States Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart to describe his threshold test for obscenity in Jacobellis v. Ohio. Though “I know it when I see it” is widely cited as Stewart’s test for “obscenity”, he never used the word “obscenity” himself in his short concurrence.

How did Justice Potter define obscenity?

“Obscene” speech is “unprotected” speech as ruled by the Supreme Court. In 1964, Justice Potter Stewart tried to explain “hard-core” pornography, or what is obscene, by saying, “I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced… [b]ut I know it when I see it …”

Why is obscenity difficult to define?

Obscenity should not be defined by a set of guidelines, because each individual views the content of material differently. Such rulings are still applicable even thirty or fifty years later, as is shown in the 2004 case of Ashcroft v. American Civil Liberties Union.

Which president appointed Potter Stewart to the Supreme Court?

Eisenhower
Eisenhower appointed him to the U.S. Supreme Court, where he served until his retirement in 1981. Although he had a background in Ohio Republican politics and was appointed to the Supreme Court by a Republican president known for his antipathy to judicial liberalism, Stewart was not a conservative justice.

Is obscenity protected by the First Amendment?

Obscenity is not protected under First Amendment rights to free speech, and violations of federal obscenity laws are criminal offenses. (For more information, see Citizen’s Guide to Federal Law on Obscenity). Obscenity Law and Minors. Federal law strictly prohibits the distribution of obscene matter to minors.

What is the Miller standard?

The Miller test, also called the three-prong obscenity test, is the United States Supreme Court’s test for determining whether speech or expression can be labeled obscene, in which case it is not protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and can be prohibited.

What is obscene speech?

Obscenity is a category of speech unprotected by the First Amendment. Obscenity laws are concerned with prohibiting lewd, filthy, or disgusting words or pictures. Currently, obscenity is evaluated by federal and state courts alike using a tripartite standard established by Miller v. California.

What is legally obscene?

Whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law. Whether the work, taken as whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.

Is obscenity a crime?

Obscenity is not protected under First Amendment rights to free speech, and violations of federal obscenity laws are criminal offenses. Federal law makes it illegal to distribute, transport, sell, ship, mail, produce with intent to distribute or sell, or engage in a business of selling or transferring obscene matter.

Who appointed Byron White?

John F. KennedyApril 12, 1962
Byron White/Appointer

Who did Potter Stewart replace?

What are the 3 tests for obscenity?

The Miller test for obscenity includes the following criteria: (1) whether ‘the average person, applying contemporary community standards’ would find that the work, ‘taken as a whole,’ appeals to ‘prurient interest’ (2) whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically …

What was the definition of obscenity in 1966?

Massachusetts (1966), in which obscenity was defined as anything patently offensive, appealing to prurient interest, and of no redeeming social value. Still, however, this left the ultimate decision of what constituted obscenity up to the whim of the courts, and did not provide an easily applicable standard for review by the lower courts.

What was the definition of obscenity in the Roth case?

The definition of obscenity set forth in Roth was: Speech which “… to the average person, applying contemporary community standards, the dominant theme of the material, taken as a whole, appeals to prurient interest ” and which is ” utterly without redeeming social importance …”

Is there a law against obscenity in the United States?

Federal law forbids obscenity in certain contexts (such as broadcast); however, the law does not define the term. The U.S. Supreme Court similarly has had difficulty defining the term. In Miller v. California, the court defers definition to two hypothetical entities, “contemporary community standards” and “hypothetical reasonable persons”.

Who was the Supreme Court justice who defined obscenity?

It is surprising that the difficulty in defining obscenity in our history did not fully begin until the mid-1900s. Supreme Court Justice Brennan, who served from 1956 to 1990, who was one of the great, and often liberal, legal minds of the 20 th century, attempted repeatedly to define obscenity.