Question

Which court case defined obscenity as something prurient, offensive to the community, and lacking serious social value?

Answer 1

The Supreme Court case Miller v. California, decided in 1973, established the Miller test, which defines obscenity based on three criteria: appeal to prurient interest, patently offensive depiction of sexual conduct, and lack of serious value. The case has set the precedent for what constitutes unprotected obscene material under the First Amendment.

Step-by-step explanation:

The Miller Test and Obscenity Law

The court case that defined obscenity as something prurient, offensive to the community, and lacking serious social value is Miller v. California, decided in 1973. According to the ruling, to be considered obscene, material must meet three criteria under what is known as the Miller test:

1. The average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest.
2. The work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct that is specifically defined by the applicable state law.
3. The work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.

This test differentiates obscene material, which is not protected by the First Amendment, from other types of potentially offensive expression. However, the application of this test has been challenging due to the varying definitions of what may constitute obscene material in different communities. Furthermore, since Miller v. California set the standard, child abuse has been almost universally banned, with very few exceptions recognized by the courts.