NCJ Number
107487
Journal
New England Law Review Volume: 20 Issue: 4 Dated: (1984-1985) Pages: 721-777
Date Published
1985
Length
57 pages
Annotation
This paper reviews the history of obscenity law, criticizes current legal definitional standards based on prurient interest and community standards, and discusses an innovative approach to regulating pornography through civil rights laws.
Abstract
Attention is focused on the feminist antipornography ordinances codified by Minneapolis and Indianapolis. These ordinances are notable for their recognition of the harm against women which pornography creates and for their construction of specifically defined pornographic materials (i.e., those involving coercion and sexual violence) as a form of sexual discrimination against women. The ordinances create new civil causes of action for women victims of pornography and new liabilities for distributors and exhibitors of pornography. While these ordinances have been challenged as an unconstitutional burden on first amendment rights, they retain significance as an avenue for legal reform by providing an alternative constitutional basis for determining whether material is or is not a protected form of speech. Copies of the ordinances are appended. 348 footnotes.