The Comstock Act’s official title, “An Act for the Suppression of Trade In, and Circulation of, Obscene Literature and Articles of Immoral Use,” gives a solid picture of its intention. Named for a 19th-century campaigner against obscenity and prostitution, the law made it illegal to advertise, sell, or give away an obscene book, pamphlet, picture, or drawing. www.dailykos.com/...
So what is obscenity legally?
Currently, obscenity is evaluated by federal and state courts alike using a tripartite standard established by Miller v. California. The Miller test for obscenity includes the following criteria:
- Whether ‘the average person, applying contemporary community standards’ would find that the work, ‘taken as a whole,’ appeals to ‘prurient interest’
- Whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law, and
- Whether the work, ‘taken as a whole,’ lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value. https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/obscenity
I have problems with sex being obscene as long as both parties consent and nobody is hurt. I think violence should be considered obscene as well as instigating violence toward others even if it has serious literary, artistic political or scientific value. I do not feel that way about sex.
But my thoughts don’t matter the law is the law and we must deal with it as it currently is
So if we use the Miller standard of the average person then birth control at 92% approval even if the states are left to decide will be legal in every state. I don’t see how 8% of the US population could be concentrated in even one state to form a majority.
JUNE 9, 2022 In addition to birth control (92%) and divorce (81%), solid majorities of Americans view eight other behaviors as morally acceptable. These include premarital sex, gay or lesbian relations, gambling, having a baby outside of marriage, stem cell research, buying and wearing clothing made of fur, doctor-assisted suicide, and the death penalty. Meanwhile, a slim majority of Americans (52%) think abortion is morally acceptable, marking the first time in Gallup's 22-year trend that more than half view it that way. https://news.gallup.com/poll/393515/americans-say-birth-control-divorce-morally-acceptable.aspx
Alito and Thomas have not been out of their Right Wing Billionaire Catholic Bubble in how many decades? I don’t think Alito and Thomas have seen the polling on birth control or abortion this could easily cost the GOP the White House, the Senate and the House.
I know they don’t want birth control or abortion legal. At best several states will ban abortion but birth control will be legal but again the GOP will lose several states because of the Supreme Court.
However if violence and inciting violence towards others were to be made obscene in several Blue States many Trump ads and Fox News would be banned.