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Originally Posted by Snake Doctor
A prime example of what I was talking about when I said that a later court with different justices could very well rule in a totally different way when it comes to the Miller test. Therefore, those of us who think obscenity laws have constitutional problems aren't victims of overly-wishful thinking as Pleasurepays would have you think.
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For sure it has constitutional problems, and it's not going to change any time soon. Unconstitutional or not, the very idea of ruling something obscene simply because one group of people do not like it, slaps the entire idea of freedom down. Well, of course unless it means that the powers that be have the freedom to rule that others can not be free, and that is more what it seems like to me.
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Originally Posted by Snake Doctor
The law you speak of in Cincinnati, Ohio, has never been challenged in federal court (as far as I know) and would likely be struck down if it were.
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Maybe. But the point is...
why does someone even have to fight it? Are we not free to purchase even the softest of hardcore movies there? It seems we are not.
I don't think it's actual law there, but any store who sells it gets raided. The also bullied all the hotels to drop adult PPV in Cincinnati.
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Originally Posted by Snake Doctor
You can't compare travel to another country with free speech, considering free speech is the 1st amendment in our bill of rights (not the 5th, not the 9th, the FIRST) Freedom to travel abroad isn't anywhere in the constitution that I can remember.
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I was speaking about "freedom" in general in response to someone else's post. Not freedom of speech. The way I see freedom is, either you are or you are not. To put restrictions of any kind means to me that you are not. Do you have choices, sure, but are you totally free? No we are not. In the context of travel of living abroad, freedom would mean we can travel ANYWHERE and would not be forced to pay taxes even though we don't live in the country. That would be freedom. Instead what we have is a small list of countries that we are forbidden to visit, and can be fined and or jailed for doing so, and a tax system that punishes people for leaving.
My problem is with the word "freedom" and how as Americans we are sold into thinking it is something that it's not.
On my first trip to Cuba (yea, fuck the rules), one of the first things I noticed was how relaxed the people were and that they would gather in numbers in certain areas or parks, day or night to sing, dance, play music and DRINK until THEY decided it was time to go home. Police never bothered them. Never. They were free to mass and enjoy their life any time day or night.
Every city I have ever lived in within the USA has parks that close at dusk (WTF) and you can not just gather on a street corner with your guitar and bongos and dance and sing songs until dawn. The police would be called and you would be forced to leave, even if that corner was your corner. Noise curfews, drinking in public, too many people gathering in one place... all no-nos in a lot of the USA. You can't even do a lot of it in your own yard if you have neighbors who are too close. But in Cuba, the communist country, axis of evil, you could do what you want. On the flip side, they have their own problems there BUT Cuba does not sell "freedom" to the people.
I could go on and on about this with more examples, but it gets nowhere. I moved abroad for a reason, and I don't look back. Don't miss a thing.