Re:"None of These Books Are Obscene": Judge Strikes Down Muc...
by throwanem on Thursday August 14, 2025 @11:35AM
(#44901705)
No, it isn't. The modern standard of obscenity in US federal law, the "Miller test," derives from a 1973 Supreme Court ruling in the eponymous Miller v. California.
I realize you're referring to some universal abstract theoretical concept of obscenity that doesn't apply or exist. The one I describe does, and I think that makes it more useful here.
Re:"None of These Books Are Obscene": Judge Strikes Down Muc...
by zeroonetwothree on Thursday August 14, 2025 @12:22PM
(#44902350)
The Miller test doesn’t apply to content for minors though. So even here you are oversimplifying. Especially considering this post is about school.
Re:"None of These Books Are Obscene": Judge Strikes Down Muc...
by throwanem on Thursday August 14, 2025 @01:15PM
(#44903056)
You're quite correct that the Miller test makes no such provision, because as another commenter here has noted, it is too general to require one.
Here is the text of the relevant decision, in case anyone would like to discuss that. https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/413/15
Funnily enough, that's exactly what "obscene" means in popular parlance. On the other hand, the legal standard for what should be considered obscene is so inherently uncertain and varies so much across time and place that it's just meaningless to say anything that purports to be definitive about that.