It may come as a surprise, but the freedom of speech laid out by the First Amendment doesn’t actually include all forms of speech. Roth v. United States is a landmark case that held that obscene speech was a category…
Category: Legal
Independence Day 2013: A Look at CBLDF’s Recent Victories
We’ve reached the midpoint of 2013, and the fact that it’s Independence Day is an important reminder of the principles on which our country was founded, not least of which is the First Amendment and its guarantee of free expression.…
Obscenity Case Files: Miller v. California
The First Amendment guarantees our right to free speech, but there are certain types of speech that fall outside of its protection. Obscenity is a type of unprotected speech, but what exactly is considered obscene in the eyes of the…
CBLDF Executive Director Charles Brownstein to Speak on Comics Censorship at San Diego Law Library
On July 16, 2013, from noon to 1:00 p.m., CBLDF Executive Director Charles Brownstein will be taking part in the San Diego Law Library’s Lindley Lecture on Law & Comics 2013, an annual event that coincides with Comic-Con International and…
N.J. Proposal Calls for Distribution of Suspect Research on Video Games
Last December’s massacre at Sandy Hook elementary was a grim reminder that gun violence is an all too real issue that we are plagued with today. In addition to targeting gun control itself, both legislators and concerned citizens are constantly…
Court Rules That California Prisoner Can Keep His Werewolf Erotica
When Andres Martinez ordered The Silver Crown by Mathilde Madden, he expected an erotic novel about werewolves. What he didn’t expect is for the book to be seized and labeled obscene by government officials. Why was the book kept from…
Opposition to Proposed Revision of Japanese Child Pornography Law Grows
Last week, we reported on a proposed revision to a Japanese child pornography law that leaves many innocent people vulnerable to prosecution due to vague legal definitions that could criminalize even the most innocuous image. In response, the Japan Cartoonists…
Vague Legal Definitions Threaten Japanese Comic Readers
For the second time in four years, members of the Japanese Diet (legislature) are attempting to revise the nation’s flawed child pornography law. While initial revision proposals offered some hope that the problems with the law would be fixed, the…
Obscenity Case Files: George Carlin’s Seven Dirty Words
When George Carlin recorded an expletive-laden 12-minute monologue before a live audience in a California theatre, he probably didn’t expect it to become the basis of a key Supreme Court decision. But in 1973, the monologue was aired as part…
A Tax on Violence? Not So Fast
In a meeting with religious leaders last week, Vice President Joe Biden stated that there is “no legal reason” that the government couldn’t impose extra taxes on entertainment media that depict violence such as movies and video games. Actually, there…