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Memoirs V. Massachusetts
''Memoirs v. Massachusetts'', 383 U.S. 413 (1966), was the United States Supreme Court decision that attempted to clarify a holding regarding obscenity made a decade earlier in ''Roth v. United States'' (1957). Since the ''Roth'' ruling, to be declared obscene a work of literature had to be proven by censors to: 1) appeal to prurient interest, 2) be patently offensive, and 3) have no redeeming social value. The book in question in this case was ''Fanny Hill'' (or ''Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure'', 1749) by John Cleland and the Court held in ''Memoirs v. Massachusetts'' that, while it might fit the first two criteria (it appealed to prurient interest and was patently offensive), it could not be proven that ''Fanny Hill'' had no redeeming social value. The judgment favoring the plaintiff continued that it could still be held obscene under certain circumstances for instance, if it were marketed solely for its prurient appeal. ''Memoirs v. Massachusetts'' led to more years ...
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First Amendment To The United States Constitution
The First Amendment (Amendment I) to the United States Constitution prevents the government from making laws that regulate an establishment of religion, or that prohibit the free exercise of religion, or abridge the freedom of speech, the freedom of the press, the freedom of assembly, or the right to petition the government for redress of grievances. It was adopted on December 15, 1791, as one of the ten amendments that constitute the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights was proposed to assuage Anti-Federalist opposition to Constitutional ratification. Initially, the First Amendment applied only to laws enacted by the Congress, and many of its provisions were interpreted more narrowly than they are today. Beginning with ''Gitlow v. New York'' (1925), the Supreme Court applied the First Amendment to states—a process known as incorporation—through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. In '' Everson v. Board of Education'' (1947), the Court drew on Thomas ...
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Supreme Court Of The United States
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point of federal law. It also has original jurisdiction over a narrow range of cases, specifically "all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party." The court holds the power of judicial review, the ability to invalidate a statute for violating a provision of the Constitution. It is also able to strike down presidential directives for violating either the Constitution or statutory law. However, it may act only within the context of a case in an area of law over which it has jurisdiction. The court may decide cases having political overtones, but has ruled that it does not have power to decide non-justiciable political questions. Established by Article Three of the United States ...
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Obscenity
An obscenity is any utterance or act that strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time. It is derived from the Latin ''obscēnus'', ''obscaenus'', "boding ill; disgusting; indecent", of uncertain etymology. Such loaded language can be used to indicate strong moral repugnance and outrage, in expressions such as "obscene profits" and "the obscenity of war". As a legal term, it usually refers to graphic depictions of people engaged in sexual and excretory activity, and related utterances of profane speech. United States obscenity law In the United States, issues of obscenity raise issues of limitations on the freedom of speech and of the press, which are otherwise protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Federal obscenity law in the U.S. is unusual in that there is no uniform national standard. Former Justice Potter Stewart of the Supreme Court of the United States, in attempting to classify what material constituted exactly "what is ...
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Roth V
Roth may refer to: Places Germany * Roth (district), in Bavaria, Germany ** Roth, Bavaria, capital of that district ** Roth (electoral district), a federal electoral district * Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany: ** Roth an der Our, in the district Bitburg-Prüm ** Roth bei Prüm, in the district Bitburg-Prüm ** Roth, Altenkirchen, in the district of Altenkirchen ** Roth, Bad Kreuznach, in the district of Bad Kreuznach ** Roth, Rhein-Hunsrück, in the district Rhein-Hunsrück ** Roth, Rhein-Lahn, in the district Rhein-Lahn-Kreis France * Roth, Moselle, a village in the commune of Hambach, Moselle United States * Roth, Illinois, a community * Roth, North Dakota, a community * Roth, Virginia, a community Rivers * Roth (Danube), a river of Bavaria, Germany, tributary of the Danube * Roth (Rednitz), a river of Bavaria, Germany, tributary of the Rednitz * Roth (Zusam), a river of Bavaria, Germany, tributary of the Zusam * Rot (Apfelstädt), a river also called Roth, of Thuringia ...
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Censorship
Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments, private institutions and other controlling bodies. Governments and private organizations may engage in censorship. Other groups or institutions may propose and petition for censorship.https://www.aclu.org/other/what-censorship "What Is Censorship", ACLU When an individual such as an author or other creator engages in censorship of his or her own works or speech, it is referred to as ''self-censorship''. General censorship occurs in a variety of different media, including speech, books, music, films, and other arts, the press, radio, television, and the Internet for a variety of claimed reasons including national security, to control obscenity, pornography, and hate speech, to protect children or other vulnerable groups, to promote or ...
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Prurient
Ian Dominick Fernow is an American experimental musician, poet and multimedia artist. He is best known for extreme music released under the stage name Prurient, as well as numerous other aliases including Vatican Shadow and Rainforest Spiritual Enslavement. His first releases date back to 1998, the same year in which he founded the record label Hospital Productions. Life Fernow was born into a Roman Catholic household, and was raised in Madison, Wisconsin. He recounts his entrance into public school and his exposure to death metal and tape trading as early sources of musical interest. In particular, Fernow cites the death metal band Deicide's album ''Once upon the Cross'' as, "frightening ... A huge record for me, still to this day." Fernow has resided in Providence, New York City, Los Angeles, and Berlin, and runs the labels Hospital Productions and Bed of Nails. Career In his early work as Prurient, Fernow worked primarily with a microphone and amplifier, and sometimes dr ...
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Fanny Hill
''Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure''—popularly known as ''Fanny Hill''—is an erotic novel by English novelist John Cleland first published in London in 1748. Written while the author was in debtors' prison in London,Wagner, "Introduction", in Cleland, ''Fanny Hill'', 1985, p. 7. it is considered "the first original English prose pornography, and the first pornography to use the form of the novel". It is one of the most prosecuted and banned books in history. The book exemplifies the use of euphemism. The text has no "dirty words" or explicit scientific terms for body parts, but uses many literary devices to describe genitalia. For example, the vagina is sometimes referred to as "the nethermouth", which is also an example of psychological displacement. A critical edition by Peter Sabor includes a bibliography and explanatory notes. The collection ''Launching "Fanny Hill"'' contains several essays on the historical, social and economic themes underlying the novel. Publi ...
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John Cleland
John Cleland (c. 1709, baptised – 23 January 1789) was an English novelist best known for his fictional '' Fanny Hill: or, the Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure'', whose eroticism led to his arrest. James Boswell called him "a sly, old malcontent". Publication of ''Fanny Hill'' John Cleland began courting the Portuguese in a vain attempt to reestablish the Portuguese East India Company. In 1748, Cleland was arrested for an £840 debt (equivalent to a purchasing power of about £100,000 in 2005) and committed to Fleet Prison, where he remained for over a year. It was while he was in prison that Cleland finalised ''Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure.'' The text probably existed in manuscript for a number of years before Cleland developed it for publication. The novel was published in two instalments, in November 1748 and February 1749. In March of that year, he was released from prison. However, Cleland was arrested again in November 1749, along with the publishers and printer of ...
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Patently Offensive
Patently offensive is a term used in United States law regarding obscenity An obscenity is any utterance or act that strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time. It is derived from the Latin ''obscēnus'', ''obscaenus'', "boding ill; disgusting; indecent", of uncertain etymology. Such loaded language can be use ... under the First Amendment. The phrase "patently offensive" first appeared in '' Roth v. United States'', referring to any obscene acts or materials that are considered to be openly, plainly, or clearly visible as offensive to the viewing public. The ''Roth'' standard outlined what is to be considered obscene and thus not under First Amendment protection. The ''Roth'' standard was largely replaced by the ''Miller'' test established by '' Miller v. California'' (1973). Roth standard According to the "Roth Standard" a work is obscene if: *The dominant theme of the material taken as a whole appeals to a prurient interest in sex, *The material is ''patently of ...
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Banned In Boston
"Banned in Boston" is a phrase that was employed from the late 19th century through the mid-20th century, to describe a literary work, song, motion picture, or play which had been prohibited from distribution or exhibition in Boston, Massachusetts. During this period, Boston officials had wide authority to ban works featuring "objectionable" content, and often banned works with sexual content or foul language. This even extended to the $5 bill from the 1896 "Educational" series of banknotes featuring allegorical figures that were partially nude. History Boston was founded in the early 17th century by Puritans, who held strict moral standards. Boston's second major wave of immigrants, Irish Catholics, began arriving in the 1820s and also held conservative moral beliefs, particularly regarding sex. Early instances of works being "banned in Boston" extend back at least to the year 1651. That year, William Pynchon, the founder of Springfield, Massachusetts—Massachusetts' great ...
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List Of United States Supreme Court Cases, Volume 383
This is a list of all United States Supreme Court cases from volume 383 of the ''United States Reports The ''United States Reports'' () are the official record ( law reports) of the Supreme Court of the United States. They include rulings, orders, case tables (list of every case decided), in alphabetical order both by the name of the petitioner ...'': External links {{SCOTUSCases, 383 Volume 383 1966 in United States case law ...
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