Friday, May 18, 2012

When it Comes to Pornography, You're the Police.

When it comes to pornography, you are the police.

With most crimes, the police simply move in when they see a law being broken. But, when it comes to pornography, they are more apt to move when you move first, and might not move at all if you don't move at all.

You, then: the policeman.

I had heard this was true. Reading through the state's statutes on pornography tonight, I see why. Read the first part of the law, and consider that when it says "average person," that would be you.

"(1) Any material or performance is pornographic if:
(a) The average person, applying contemporary community standards, finds that, taken as a whole, it appeals to prurient interest in sex . . ."

So, if you are an average person, and see a picture on display, and consider it pornographic, and report it, and the police then decide it probably does go against the standards of the community, an arrest just might result.

I'm not sure how I feel about this law. I can tell you I don't like pornography. But what if I called the police on that billboard along the freeway. You know, the one of the bikini-clad woman laying down. I think it is about liposuction. I have considered myself quite successful at looking the other way whenever I pass it. I just don't think it healthy for me to look at such things.

Does the picture on the billboard appeal to "prurient interest in sex"? My dictionary tells me "prurient" means, "having or encouraging unhealthy sexual curiosity."

I consider it unhealthy for me to look at the picture. That's why I look away.

Am I to be given license to call her pornographic, then? And, if enough people felt the same as me, and we all called in, would our policing efforts result in an arrest?

I will tell you this, if we did get the billboard removed for being pornographic, it would make national news. Most of the nation would not begin to consider it pornographic. Most folks would either have a good laugh at us, or be outraged, or both.

Well, I don't know that I consider that billboard pornographic. I only know it is unhealthy for me to look at it, the dictionary says unhealthy sexual curiosity is the stuff "prurient" is made of, and state law says pornographic material is that material that the average person, applying community standards, finds to be appealing to prurient interest.

For your reading pleasure, I'll post the whole of Utah Code 76-10-1203, the law on pornography. Notice it says an expert authority is not needed to determine whether something is pornographic. Consider that kind of a second shot at what we are saying,  that on matters of pornography, it is you -- not some well-educated authority -- that is to be listened to.

Utah Code 76-10-1203
(1) Any material or performance is pornographic if:
(a) The average person, applying contemporary community standards, finds that, taken as a whole, it appeals to prurient interest in sex . .
(b) It is patently offensive in the description or depiction of nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, sadomasochistic abuse, or excretion; and
(c) Taken as a whole it does not have serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.
(2) In prosecutions under this part, where circumstances of production, presentation, sale, dissemination, distribution, exhibition, or publicity indicate that the matter is being commercially exploited by the defendant for the sake of its prurient appeal, this evidence is probative with respect to the nature of the matter and can justify the conclusion that, in the context in which it is used, the matter has no serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.
(3) Neither the prosecution nor the defense shall be required to introduce expert witness testimony as to whether the material or performance is or is not harmful to adults or minors or is or is not pornographic, or as to any element of the definition of pornographic, including contemporary community standards.

No comments:

Post a Comment