Question

Obscenity has been legally defined by meeting three criteria. First, the dominant theme of the material must appeal to a prurient interest in sex (i.e., the material is sexually arousing in a lewd way). Second, the material must be patently offensive to the community. Third, the sexual material must ________.

1) be explicitly described
2) be considered harmful
3) lack artistic value
4) be intended for commercial distribution

Answer 1

The third criterion for material to be considered obscene under the Miller test is that it must lack serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.

Step-by-step explanation:

Obscenity has been legally defined by meeting three criteria, known commonly as the Miller test from the landmark Supreme Court case Miller v. California. To consider material as obscene:

1. An average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the material, as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest.
2. The material must depict or describe, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law.
3. The material, taken as a whole, must lack serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.

Therefore, the correct completion of the third criterion in the student's question is that the sexual material must lack serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value (Option 3).