Exam 4 Flashcards
Definition of Legally Obscene
No First Amendment protection for child pornography
Definition of the Hicklin Rule
A work is obscene if it has a tendency to deprave those whose minds are open to such immoral influences and into whose hands it might happen to fall
The material is to be judged by the effect of an isolated excerpt upon particularly susceptible persons
Definition of the Roth Test
3 parts to the test
- The dominant theme of the material taken as a whole must appeal to the prurient interest in sex
- The material must be patently offensive based on contemporary community standards
- The material must be totally lacking in redeeming social value
Definition of the Miller Test
3 parts of the test
- The dominant theme of the material taken as a whole must appeal to the prurient interest in sex
- The material must be patently offensive based on contemporary community standards
- The material must lack serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value
Facts of Roth v. US
- Samuel Roth ran an adult book-selling business in NYC
- Convicted under a federal statute criminalizing the sending of “obscene, lewd, lascivious or filthy” materials through the mail
- Sold a publication called American Aphrodite, containing literary erotica and nude photography
- David Alberts, was convicted under a California statute for selling lewd and obscene books through the mail
Decision of Roth v. US
6-3 Decision for US
Reasoning of Roth v. US
- The court repudiated the Hicklin Rule
- Only material meeting this test could be banned as “obscene”
Facts of Miller v. California
- Marvin Miller, owner/operator of a California mail-order business specializing in pornographic film and books, sent out a brochure advertising books and a film that graphically depicted sexual activity between men and women
- Five brochures were mailed to a restaurant. The owner and his mother opened the envelop and called the police after seeing it.
- Miller was arrested and charged with violating California Penal Code 311.2
Decision of Miller v. California
5-4 Decision for Miller
Reasoning for Miller v. California
The court held that obscene materials did not enjoy First Amendment protection
Facts of Stanley v. Georgia
- Georgia police suspected Robert Stanley of a gambling operation in his own home.
- They obtained a search warrant but found no evidence of gambling, however, they did find 3 reels of 8 millimeter film containing 50 minutes of a highly sexual porn film
- He was arrested on state obscenity charges
Decision of Stanley v. Georgia
- The court overturned Stanley’s obscenity conviction and struck the Georgia law as unconstitutional
Reasoning of Stanley v. Georgia
- There is a important distinction between legally obscene material being distrusted in a public venue (No 1st protection) vs. Legally obscene material being distrusted in a private venue (1st protection)
- Even if it’s highly explicit, its protected in your own home, not including child pornography
Definition of Trustee Model
- Public Interest
- Convenience
- Necessity
What are the Arguments in Favor of Broadcasting Regulation?
- Trusteeship
- Physical Scarcity
- Right of Audience
- Pervasive Presence
- Accessibility to Children
What is Trusteeship?
The public airwaves belong to everyone and license holders
What is Physical Scarcity?
Two Fold Argument
- One: There are only so many frequencies and you need the federal government to allocate frequencies to license holders or it’ll produce confusion
- Two: Economics. The realization by the Federal government in today’s media world, who owns the majority of radio and television stations
