Time To Make Sure You Are On Top Of What You Are Offering
The clock is ticking and the doors will start knocking soon.
According to reports, 50 obscenity indictments are currently under consideration in the U.S., and 17 cases are in the hands of federal grand juries nationwide. This compared to 83 obscenity convictions in 2003. Three obscenity cases are underway in Kentucky, five in southern West Virginia, six in Utah, and eight were filed in eastern Virginia last year.
However, Pittsburgh remains a longtime favorite spot for obscenity trials because of the socio-economic conservatism that is more likely to produce jurors with more mild interpretations of what is obscene.
"We have just had a proliferation of this type of material that has been getting increasingly worse and worse," said Buchanan. "And that's why it's important to enforce the law, and to show the producers that there are limits. There are limits to what they can sell and distribute throughout the country,"
Current federal laws on pornography make only explicit, hard-core sexual material that involves children or anyone under 18 years of age illegal, whereas all other porn content considered "obscene" must be tried before a jury.
In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court defined obscenity as material appealing to a degrading interest in sex, depicting it in a patently offensive manner, and lacking any serious artistic, literary, or scientific value.
"We're focusing our resources on the most egregious offenders," said Buchanan. "So, we're looking at the producers and distributors who are producing the worst material, the largest quantity of material, the largest area of distribution."
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