The Animal Crush Video Prohibition Act of 2010, , was a United States bill that addressed the banning of depictions of cruelty to animals to satisfy a

crush fetish A crush fetish is a fetish and a paraphilia in which sexual arousal is associated with observing objects being crushed or being crushed oneself. The crushed objects vary from inanimate items (e.g., food), to injurious and/or fatal crushing of inv ...

. The

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

, , was introduced by Rep. Elton Gallegly ( R- CA), and primarily modified .

Background

The act revised the version of 18 U.S.C. § 48 that had entered into effect on December 9, 1999, which had been ruled an

unconstitutional Constitutionality is said to be the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution; "Webster On Line" the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or set forth in the applicable constitution. When l ...

abridgment of the

First Amendment First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

right to freedom of speech by the Supreme Court. The previous law, placed into effect by , aimed at banning the

publication To publish is to make content available to the general public.Berne Conve ...

, sale, and ownership of so-called " crush videos", which are films that feature a person or another animal crushing or trampling another smaller animal to

death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

. In 2010, the Supreme Court ruled that the law was too vague and broad in '' United States v. Stevens'', and, in an 8–1 decision, it nullified the 1999 law.Adam Liptak
Justices Reject Ban on Videos of Animal Cruelty
April 20, 2010, The New York Times.

References

{{reflist Acts of the 111th United States Congress Cruelty to animals Foot fetishism