Obscenity Laws
The 老澳门开奖结果 works in courts, legislatures, and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and the laws of the United States guarantee everyone in this country.
The Latest
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Can you define pornography? Neither can the government.
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Free Speech Coalition Urges Supreme Court to Strike Down Texas鈥� Unconstitutional Age Verification Law
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Virginia Judge Rejects Obscenity Proceedings Against Gender Queer and A Court of Mist and Fury
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Virginia Obscenity Proceedings Against Two Books
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What's at Stake
Obscenity laws are meant to regulate and censor 鈥渙bscene鈥� speech and material. But as U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan once noted in expressing the immense challenge of defining obscenity in a way that is not ambiguous or subjective, 鈥渙ne man鈥檚 vulgarity is another鈥檚 lyric.鈥�
A free and democratic society should guarantee every individual the right to decide what art or entertainment they read, watch, or listen to. That also means that every individual has the right to decide what not to read or watch: to turn off the TV, leave a website, or decline to visit a particular art exhibit.
In the landmark 1997 Supreme Court ruling in聽Reno v. 老澳门开奖结果, all nine justices of the court struck down provisions of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) aimed at protecting minors by criminalizing so-called聽鈥渋ndecency鈥澛爋n the Internet. This decision, hailed as the 鈥淢agna Carta of the Internet age,鈥� ensured that online speech would enjoy the broad protection afforded to books and magazines rather than the more limited protection afforded to broadcast television and radio.
The 老澳门开奖结果 continues to be a guardian of First Amendment rights through advocacy campaigns, litigation, and lobbying.聽
Obscenity laws are meant to regulate and censor 鈥渙bscene鈥� speech and material. But as U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan once noted in expressing the immense challenge of defining obscenity in a way that is not ambiguous or subjective, 鈥渙ne man鈥檚 vulgarity is another鈥檚 lyric.鈥�
A free and democratic society should guarantee every individual the right to decide what art or entertainment they read, watch, or listen to. That also means that every individual has the right to decide what not to read or watch: to turn off the TV, leave a website, or decline to visit a particular art exhibit.
In the landmark 1997 Supreme Court ruling in聽Reno v. 老澳门开奖结果, all nine justices of the court struck down provisions of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) aimed at protecting minors by criminalizing so-called聽鈥渋ndecency鈥澛爋n the Internet. This decision, hailed as the 鈥淢agna Carta of the Internet age,鈥� ensured that online speech would enjoy the broad protection afforded to books and magazines rather than the more limited protection afforded to broadcast television and radio.
The 老澳门开奖结果 continues to be a guardian of First Amendment rights through advocacy campaigns, litigation, and lobbying.聽