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
Civil liberties can be defined as the basic rights and freedoms of an individual granted to citizens in the United States and the entire world through the national common law or the statute law. The liberties include freedom of association, speech, movement, religious worship, and that from arbitrary arrest. The liberties get to form the roots of democracy in a society. In a dictatorial from of administration, the citizens are denied the rights and freedoms. However, liberties can be described as universal rights and freedoms. During the cold war in 1945 to 1953, the civil liberties got faced by many challenges as the citizens of the US faced and lived in a lot of terror.
Pornography is considered by many to be an unwelcome and distasteful part of our society. However, I argue that it is necessary to voice the unpopular viewpoints, under the Constitution. This paper is a defense of pornography as a constitutional right of free expression, under the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights. In illustrating this argument, I will first define pornography as a concept, and then address central arguments in favor of pornography remaining legal and relatively unregulated – such as the development of the pornography debate throughout modern US law, and how activist groups address the censorship of adult entertainment.
As American citizens we have rights that are protected by the Constitution, but we also have the right to be free. Civil liberties and civil rights sound very similar but effect us in different ways. Civil rights are the right we have to be free and more specifically free from discrimination based on our race, gender or disability while civil liberties are the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the constitution and the Bill of Rights (Civil Liberties). Both mean something different but both are equally important to the function of our society.
Both Civil liberties and rights are not nor represent the same thing. Civil liberties are personal guarantees and freedoms that the government cannot abridge, either by law or by judicial interpretation. Civil rights are the rights of individuals to receive equal treatment in a number of settings including education, employment, housing, and more. Many interests groups use these terms to support their own campains so that politicians might notice something being violated in the constitution.
The protection of civil liberties and civil rights is critical to the existence of our society. Civil rights are the nonpolitical rights of people granted by the government that provide protection for citizens and guarantee fairness. For example, civil rights ensure a person receives equal treatment with regard to education, housing, employment, etc. Civil rights protect people from discrimination and unfair treatment. Civil liberties are basic rights for all people that are broad and guaranteed by the Constitution. Civil liberties are also referred to as personal freedoms. These liberties or freedoms give people the various rights without government interference such as the right to free speech, to vote,
In order to fully understand what constitutes as a civil liberty the definition of a civil liberty must first be established. A civil liberty is defined as “Those rights, such as freedom of speech and religion, that are so fundamental that they are outside the authority of government to regulate” ( Schiller, Geer, & Segal, 2013). Essentially meaning that a civil liberty is a basic human right that not even government should be able to interfere with it. Quick examples of these rights are freedom of speech, press, religion,etc.
What is the First Amendment? According to the “Webster-dictionary” The First Amendment is “an amendment to the Constitution of the United States guaranteeing the right of free expression; includes freedom of assembly and freedom of the press and freedom of religion and freedom of speech.” Since the First Amendment was written by our founding fathers and is part of the constitution it should not be violated. This amendment secures the freedom of individuals to express their thoughts freely. In the essays “First Amendment Junkie” by Susan Jacoby and “Let’s Put Pornography back in the closet” by Susan Brownmiller both authors write about the First Amendment. By implementing ethos and pathos in their writing both authors write about pornography
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. The first amendment to the United State's constitution is one of the most important writings in our short history. The first amendment has defined and shaped our country into what it is today. The amendment has constantly been challenged and ratified through literature, court cases, and our media. In fact, media is driven by the first amendment. Without it, we as citizens wouldn't be able to view or listen to what we want, when we wanted. As you can see, the first amendment is not only a free pass to say and do what you want, but in contrast, a great limiter to certain types of speech and behavior. This duality of the amendment is what makes it so special. The duality is especially evident in the field of media. The media is constantly being challenged by the first amendment on the following topics:Defamation suits, obscenity and sex on the net, and free speech rights. It is those issues that are constantly changing and redefining our media today.
Civil rights concern the basic right to be free from unequal treatment based on certain protected characteristics (race, gender, disability, etc.) in settings such as employment, education, housing, and access to public facilities. A civil rights violation occurs in designated situations where an individual is discriminated against on the basis of a protected characteristic. Most civil rights laws are established through the federal government via federal legislation or case law. On the other hand, Civil liberties concern basic rights and freedoms that are guaranteed -- either explicitly identified in the Bill of Rights and the Constitution, or interpreted or inferred through the years by legislatures or the courts. (FindLaw)
Civil liberties are guaranteed rights by the government to the people. Freedom of religion is a great example of civil liberties. The people are free to practice their own religion how they please. Civil liberties also give a person a right to jury trial. This also gives the right for people to have a lawyer present in the court of law. In the end, civil liberties are given to people and civil rights keeps these liberties from being discriminated with. The 13th-15th amendments
When deliberating over whether access to pornography should be prohibited, four areas of contention must be elaborated upon and evaluated critically to provide a sensible basis on which a judgement can be made. Firstly, it must be concluded whether pornography can be classed as a form of speech, and whether it enjoys the same protections as art and literature under the principle. Secondly, works such as those of Catherine MacKinnon can be drawn upon to offer a feminist perspective of the effects of pornography on the treatment of women within modern democratic society. Moreover, the principles of Devlin and Feinberg offer relevant acumen regarding the criminalisation of pornographic media. Overall, this essay will argue that whilst access to pornography should not be entirely prohibited; publications that depict ‘extreme’ situations should be subject to regulation and restriction.
According to the Webster-dictionary The First Amendment is an amendment to the Constitution of the United States guaranteeing the right of free expression; includes freedom of assembly and freedom of the press and freedom of religion and freedom of speech. Since the first Amendment was written by our founding fathers and is part of our constitution it should never be violated. Being able to say and express what one thinks without been afraid of going to jail. In the essays “First Amendment Junkie” by Susan Jacoby and “Let’s Put Pornography back in the closet” by Susan Brownmiller both writes about the First Amendment is when one can express them. Jacoby and Brownmiller both write about pornography and the first amendment using pathos and ethos in their writing. However, Jacoby’s essay is more reliable because she uses ethos to provide credible resources, as well as use pathos to appeal to her credibility.
In her essay “Let’s Put Pornography Back in the Closet,” Susan Brownmiller, a prominent feminist activist, argues that pornography should not be protected under the First Amendment (59). Her position is based on the belief that pornography is degrading and abusive towards women (Brownmiller 59). She introduces the reader to the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment, and explains how it relates to her beliefs on censoring pornographic material (Brownmiller 58). In addition, she provides examples of First Amendment controversies such as Miller v. California and James Joyce’s Ulysses to explain how the law created a system to define pornographic material (Brownmiller 58). She described the system that used a three-part test as confusing (Brownmiller 58). Regardless of whether or not the First Amendment was intended to protect obscenities, she and many others believe that the legislatures should have the final say in the decision of creating and publishing pornography (Brownmiller 60).
Pornography: printed or visual material containing the explicit description or display of sexual organs or activity, intended to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic or emotional feelings. Under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, pornography consisting of aged 18 or older consenting adults, is legal. Anyone with the access to a computer is four letters away from the ability to view pornography. Simply typing “porn” into a Google search bar will yield thousands of videos of illicit content, most of which will be free to view. The quality of these videos vary site by site, some are home videos of couple posting their exploits online to see, and some videos are full scale productions with plots and famous porn-stars who are
In recent years, pornography has established itself as perhaps the most controversial topic arising out of the use of the Internet. The easy availability of this type of sexually explicit material has caused a panic among government officials, family groups, religious groups and law enforcement bodies and this panic has been perpetuated in the media.