NCJ Number
113723
Journal
William and Mary Law Review Volume: 29 Issue: 1 Dated: (Fall 1987) Pages: 187-214
Date Published
1987
Length
28 pages
Annotation
When in New York v. Ferber the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of State statutes restricting the possession of child pornography that was not legally obscene, it did so on the grounds that protecting children from physical and psychological abuse outweighs the protections of free speech under the first amendment.
Abstract
Prior Supreme Court case law in Stanley v. Georgia interpreted the first amendment to allow the private possession of pornographic material in the home. Therefore, the Ferber case and subsequent State supreme court cases challenge the free speech protections guaranteed under the first amendment. The article discusses the policies behind the decisions in the Stanley and Ferber cases and the State supreme court cases following Ferber. Because a clear connection does not exist between private possession of child pornography and the physical and psychological abuse of children exploited in the production of pornographic materials, legislation that criminalizes the private possession of child pornography is an unreasonable restriction of first and fourth amendment rights. A close reading of the Ferber decision suggests that the Supreme Court intended the ruling only to alter the standard for child pornography in order to allow the State to regulate its production and distribution. 208 footnotes.