The Importance Of The First Amendment Relation To Pornography

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First Amendment Relation to Pornography and Obscenity Pornography refers to sexual materials designed to arouse sexual desire of viewers/readers. The provisions of the First Amendment prohibit the government from abridging the freedom of speech (Hafen 210). Despite the provisions, the US Supreme Court interprets the constitution to identify the limits and boundaries inherent in the First Amendment rights. Accordingly, the First Amendment does not protect two types of pornography: child pornography and obscenity (Hafen 210). The First Amendment protects all other pornographic materials not falling in these two categories, but only for adult viewers. Chief Justice Warren Burger set three rules that are helpful in determining whether a material is pornographic or not. First, it is important to determine whether the material appeals to the prurient interest if an average person applies contemporary community standards to that materia (Barmore 475)l. Second, determine whether the material describes or depict sexual content, in a patently offensive manner (Barmore 476). Finally, determine whether the entire work lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value (Hafen 210). These three tests can help one determine whether a …show more content…

Civil liberties protects an individual’s right to form and express personal preferences or convictions, and to act freely upon these preferences or convictions, in the private sphere, without intrusive interference from the government (Schmidt). On the contrary, civil rights emphasize a person’s rights as a citizen to engage freely and equally in public affairs and politics so that the person can promote his or her preferred public policy (Schmidt). Another difference is that the government grants and protects civil rights to ensure fairness and prevent discrimination, whereas the constitution/founding document grants civil liberties to all citizen

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