Obscenity - Put It To The Test
I have just finished writing up a brief article on The Miller Test and specifically about what conditions need to bet met when using this test to determine whether something can be deemed as obscene by the US Court system.
Whilst many of us will never have to worry about putting this to use in court it is still something that we should be aware of especially when choosing the types of content we utilize on our adult websites.
With that said hope you find the information within this article of some use.
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Obscenity - Put It To The Test.
Regardless of how long any of us have been an adult webmaster we all need to be aware of obscenity laws and, in particular how they affect our businesses whether we think a hardcore photoset is 'obscene' or not ultimately, if you get taken to court on obscenity charges the one thing you should be aware of is how the courts will decide whether the images you are using will be classified as obscene or not.
Testing Obscenity - The Miller Test.
The Miller test was developed in the 1973 court case of Miller vs. California and in comprises of three parts ALL of which MUST be satisfied on order for something to be deemed obscene by the courts. The Miller test is the 'official' method used by the United States Supreme Court for determining whether an expression or a speech can be determined as obscene and, if deemed obscene, it is not protected under the First Amendment and is therefore prohibited by law.
The Miller Test - Part One.
Part one of The Miller Test states something may be obscene if 'the average person, applying contemporary adult community standards, would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest' In essence, this means that if the 'average' person on a jury or on the bench finds the work to be deemed obscene then, it is. However for the court to rule something as obscene it also has to be deemed obscene by the standards set in part two and part three below.
The Miller Test - Part Two.
Part two of The Miller Test states that something is potentially obscene is 'the average person, applying contemporary adult community standards, would find that the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct'. Basically this is saying that if the images or speech is something which is not practiced in a manner befitting your local community standards then again, it may be obscene. However, as with part one of The Miller Test for a court to find something obscene it needs to fall below the standards in part
three below.
The Miller Test - Part Three.
Part three of The Miller Test states that something is potentially obscene if, 'a reasonable person would find that the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.' This is pretty much where you could potentially come unstuck after all, everyone has different sexual tastes and because of this, just because something that may be widespread such as 'bare backing' (to use as an example) could potentially be considered as obscene if you happen to have a jury who are devout practicers of safe sex.
The Miller Test - Overview.
In essence The Miller Test is a useful guideline for webmasters when it comes to operating our sites and specifically, when it comes to choosing the types of content we utilize on them however, for the most part The Miller Test itself is outdated. Since the early 70's when this test was devised there have been many sexual practices that were once deemed obscene that have become more a part of everyday life and accepted in to society as whole thus, what once would (or could) have been deemed obscene would no longer be in the same sense as something that may be deemed obscene today could be found not to be in 5 years time.
Article written by Lee.
Regards,
Lee
