Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

General Discussion

Showing Original Post only (View all)

elleng

(130,945 posts)
Tue Mar 26, 2024, 09:28 PM Mar 26

For info: The Comstock laws are a set of federal acts [View all]

passed by the United States Congress under the Grant administration along with related state laws.[1]: 9  The "parent" act (Sect. 211) was passed on March 3, 1873, as the Act for the Suppression of Trade in, and Circulation of, Obscene Literature and Articles of Immoral Use. This Act criminalized any use of the U.S. Postal Service to send any of the following items:[2] "Obscene" may be also called in the law texts as "vulgar", "indecent", "filthy,"[3]: 48  and "contraceptive" is an article for "preventing conception."[3]: 49  "Abortifacient" may be "medicine or means for producing or facilitating miscarriage or abortion."[3]: 52  "Sex-toy" might be "instrument or article of indecent or immoral use"[3]: 35, 49  or "instrument or article for self-pollution" [3]: 35  obscenity, contraceptives, abortifacients, sex toys, personal letters with any sexual content or information, or any information regarding the above items.

A similar federal act (Sect. 245) of 1909[4][1]: 8  applied to delivery by interstate "express" or any other common carrier (such as railroad), rather than delivery by the U.S. Post Office. In addition to these federal laws, about half of the states enacted laws related to the federal Comstock laws. These state laws are considered by women's rights activist Mary Dennett[1]: 9  to also be "Comstock laws". The laws were named after their chief proponent, U.S. Postal Inspector and anti-vice activist Anthony Comstock. Comstock received a commission from the Postmaster General to serve as a special agent for the U.S. Post Office Department.[5]

In Washington, D.C., where the federal government had direct jurisdiction, another Comstock act (Sect. 312) also made it illegal (punishable by up to five years at hard labor), to sell, lend, or give away any "obscene" publication, or article used for contraception or abortion.[5] Section 305 of the Tariff Act of 1922 forbade the importation of any contraceptive information or means.[1]: 8 

Numerous failed attempts were made to repeal or modify these laws, and many of them (or portions of them) were declared unconstitutional. In a 1919 issue of the Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, Judge J. C. Ruppenthal, after reviewing the various laws (especially state laws) called the set of acts "haphazard and capricious" and lacking "any clear, broad, well-defined principle or purpose".[3]: 50 '

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comstock_laws

8 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Latest Discussions»General Discussion»For info: The Comstock la...