Comstock Laws

Comstock Laws

The Comstock Act, enacted March 3, 1873, was a United States federal law which amended the Post Office Act and made it illegal to send any "obscene, lewd, and/or lascivious" materials through the mail, including contraceptive devices and information. In addition to banning contraceptives, this act also banned the distribution of information on abortion for educational purposes. Twenty-four states passed similar prohibitions on materials distributed within the states. These state and federal restrictions are collectively known as the Comstock laws.

The Comstock Laws were variously case tested, but courts struggled to establish definitive thinking about the laws. One of the most notable applications of Comstock was Roth v. United States, in which the Supreme Court affirmed Comstock, but set limits on what could be considered obscene. This landmark case represented one of the first notable revisions since the Hicklin test, and the evolving nature of the laws on which Comstock was conceived.

The sale and distribution of obscene materials had been prohibited prior to Comstock in most American states since the early 19th century, and by federal law since 1873. Federal anti-obscenity laws are currently still in effect and enforced, though the definition of obscenity has changed much (now expressed in the Miller Test) and extensive debates on what is obscene continue.

The law was named after its chief proponent, the anti-obscenity crusader Anthony Comstock. The enforcement of the Act was, in its early days, often conducted by Comstock himself as postal inspector or through the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice which he led. Comstock himself is considered by many to have stepped far outside the bounds of his legal power, exerting a sort of legalized vigilantism.

Read more about Comstock Laws:  Text of The Federal Law, Objective of The Law, Definition of Obscenity, History

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