What is obscene material?
United States courts use the Miller test for determining whether speech or expression is “obscene,” and therefore not protected by the First Amendment. That means it can legally be banned. The Miller test stems from Miller v. California, 413 U.S. 15 (1973), in which the US Supreme Court held that material is obscene if each of the following factors is satisfied: • Whether the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest; • Whether the work depicts/describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by applicable law; • Whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value. Most pornography depicting sexual acts or genitalia would not be considered obscene but community standards can vary widely (compare Peoria with Manhattan), and a blog can be seen in any jurisdiction.
