obscenity laws
Anti-indecency legal codes
Obscenity laws are statutes restricting sexual or other material deemed offensive to public morality.
In the U.S., the Supreme Court's 1973 *Miller* test determines obscenity based on community standards, prurient appeal, and lack of serious artistic or scientific value.
Enforcement varies widely: The book was banned under obscenity laws in several states.
What qualifies as obscene shifts across eras and jurisdictions.
- pornographySexually explicit arousing material
- community standardsCollective rules for conduct
- free speechProtected verbal liberty
- decencyMoral appropriateness in behavior
- family valuesBeliefs prioritizing domestic bonds
morality · prurient · indecent exposure · regulation · prior restraint · criminal code · censorship · seven dirty words · dirty words · taboo · statute · legal doctrine · fines · constitutional amendment · ordinance · imprisonment · First Amendment · moral panic
- criminal lawcrime, felony, misdemeanor, murder, robbery
- censorshipbanned books, censored, banned, book banning, book bans
- media regulationcensorship, content moderation, press censorship, film censorship, art censorship
- media rulesbroadcast standards, decency standards, content moderation, rating systems, editorial standards
- TV regulationscensorship, rating systems, content warnings, age ratings, bleeping
- vice lawsprohibition, vice squad, morality police, vice, public indecency
obscenity lawssedition laws
Rules criminalizing anti-government agitation
political censorship · blasphemy laws · hate speech laws · press censorship · defamation laws