TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Utah Republican Senator Mike Lee has proposed legislation to officially define obscenity, as it relates to free speech, in a move that would essentially make internet pornography illegal in the United States.
For legal purposes, obscenity is one of few types of speech not protected by the First Amendment, and blocked from interstate or foreign transmission by current federal law.
According to a one-page explanation by the Utah senator, the new legislation would modify the Miller test, a U.S. Supreme Court precedent from 1973 which set a way of defining material as sexual or obscene content, affecting the “prurient interest” precedent by an earlier SCOTUS ruling.
Prurient means that something either has or encourages an excessive interest in sexual matters.
The Miller test used ruled that if the average American would find content that appeals to the prurient interest, it is considered obscene.
When announcing his proposed bill, Lee said SCOTUS has “struggled to define obscenity” as it relates to free speech, and that the internet presented “serious challenges” to the Miller test.
www.wfla.com
For legal purposes, obscenity is one of few types of speech not protected by the First Amendment, and blocked from interstate or foreign transmission by current federal law.
According to a one-page explanation by the Utah senator, the new legislation would modify the Miller test, a U.S. Supreme Court precedent from 1973 which set a way of defining material as sexual or obscene content, affecting the “prurient interest” precedent by an earlier SCOTUS ruling.
Prurient means that something either has or encourages an excessive interest in sexual matters.
The Miller test used ruled that if the average American would find content that appeals to the prurient interest, it is considered obscene.
When announcing his proposed bill, Lee said SCOTUS has “struggled to define obscenity” as it relates to free speech, and that the internet presented “serious challenges” to the Miller test.
Utah senator proposes bill to ban internet porn in US
Utah Republican Senator Mike Lee has proposed legislation to essentially outlaw adult material on the internet.
www.wfla.com
