Part 5 - Some Words on Obscenity

So what does "obscene" mean, anyway? It's definitions in the dictionaries are somewhat ambiguous, mainly concerning effect on audience ("offensive", "corrupting") or actual qualities of obscenity ("indecent", "indelicate", "unchaste", "impure"). However, there is a very specific legal definition used to determine and test for obscenity under U.S. law. The following information is excerpted from the online legal dictionary and information source, The 'Lectric Law Library, which cites the information from Bouviers Law Dictionary 1856 Edition. For more thorough information, see the full online definition.

For something to be "obscene" it must be shown that the average person, applying contemporary community standards and viewing the material as a whole, would find (1) that the work appeals predominantly to "prurient" interest; (2) that it depicts or describes sexual conduct in a patently offensive way; and (3) that it lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.

• Is the material as a whole an appeal to the "prurient [a morbid, degrading and unhealthy interest in sex] interest" of the intended recipient group?

• Does it depict "in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct such as ultimate sexual acts, normal or perverted, actual or simulated; masturbation; excretory functions; or lewd exhibition of the genitals" within "generally accepted community standards?"

• Does the material, "taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value."

All three of these tests must be met before the material in question can be found to be obscene. If any one of them is not met the material would not be obscene within the meaning of the law.