MetaFilter posts tagged with obscenity

Under His Robes

rzklkng — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 13:48:24 -0800

U.S. 9th District Court of Appeals Chief Justice Alex Kozinski [wiki] is currently adjudicating a remarkably hardcore obscenity case. He is currently facing his own obscenity case as well, having allowed public access to NSFW or illegal-for-minor-viewing material posted on his own vanity website, as reported in the LA Times. Although he maintains that the material's posting was just innocent fun, he clearly knows his way around the internets. Kozinski is a prolific and well-regarded essayist, and is occasionally mentioned as a potential Supreme Court nominee.

"Nothing like a meeting you have to carb up for"

nthdegx — Thu, 29 May 2008 03:45:01 -0800

A runner's primer

Happy V-Day From The 5th Circuit

Robert Angelo — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 12:02:33 -0800

"I've been anticipating this for some time," said Ray Hill, consultant for a number of local adult bookstores, speaking of the infamous Texas Dildo Law [Molly Ivins video, not only NSFW but too funnt for work] prohibiting the posession of six or more "obscene devices." Infamous prosecutions under the law included Joanne Webb, a Baptist mother from Burleson who worked as a "consultant" through Passion Parties, a sort of erotic version of Tupperware or Avon. Although the case against Webb was eventually dropped, Travis County DA Ronnie Earle has yet to reveal whether he intends to pursue an appeal in the current matter. Keep your briefs ready just in case! previously

"I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness..."

amyms — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 23:39:22 -0800

Too Hot To Hear. Fifty years ago today, a San Francisco Municipal Court judge ruled that Allen Ginsberg's Beat-era poem "Howl" was not obscene. Yet today, a New York public broadcasting station decided not to air the poem, fearing that the Federal Communications Commission will find it indecent and crush the network with crippling fines. More on Allen Ginsberg here. Via.

@#^&, %$!, @%#, &!$, @$#%@&!#@#!, @!#&$%@#!&$# and @%$.

miss lynnster — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 11:13:23 -0800

"I find it kind of funny to be hassled for using [them] when my intention is to free us from hassling people for using them." Thirty five years later, George Carlin's seven dirty words still aren't forgotten by his arresting officer. "I couldn't believe my ears," Elmer Lenz remembers. "I couldn't see why nobody was doing anything about it."

Hindu case against 'obscene' Muslim artist fails

Phanx — Tue, 08 May 2007 04:13:24 -0800

Proceedings against MF Husain have been stayed in India's Supreme Court. A painting by the celebrated Muslim artist, apparently depicting Mother India as a nude, led Hindus to bring an obscenity case and proceedings to seize his Mumbai property were initiated. However his lawyers moved swiftly to frustrate the action, transferring the property into his son's name and then seeking the High Court ruling. Hindus have taken offense at previous paintings by Husain, depicting Hindu deities in allegedly obscene ways. Others disagree.

Plus I'm hungry for shit.

Citizen Premier — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 01:38:42 -0800

If you're sick of random, crude, sloppy , incredibly NSFW cartoons featuring juvenile humor, you'll love Sick Animation!

The End of Porn?

Saucy Intruder — Thu, 08 Dec 2005 10:46:42 -0800

The End of Porn? The Ashcroft/Gonzales Justice Department has made obscenity prosecutions a top priority, with 60 prosecutions in the first four years of the Bush administration (compared to four for the entire eight years of the Clinton administration). Anti-porn advocates were dismayed in January when a federal judge in Pittsburgh, citing dicta on sexual liberty in the Supreme Court's Lawrence v. Texas decision, dismissed an indictment in a closely-watched case. Today, however, the Third Circuit reversed, rejecting the defendant's arguments that (1) Lawrence protected their liberty interest in distributing pornographic material, and (2) earlier Supreme Court obscenity precedent should be revisited in light of the increased prevalence of Internet transmission. The result, undoubtedly, will be a new wave of prosecutions not seen since the Supreme Court set limits on First-Amendment based protections in the 1970s.

porn+war photos+???= jail?

stenseng — Wed, 19 Oct 2005 08:43:38 -0800

Remember our good pal from NowThatsFuckedUp.com, the one who was trading war photos from soldiers for access to his amateur porn site? Well, looks like he's traded the whole shebang for a stint in the Polk County Jail for some 300+ counts of obscenity charges. Held on $151,000 bail, he (or his hood friends outside da joint) have set up a new site - http://www.freechris.org - with significantly less homegrown pr0n and corpse shots, and significantly more whining for donations to dude's legal defense fund, starting at $2.
Personally, and in pure technical terminology, I find the whole thing to be really "icky," yet, maybe it's a good thing that people can see the reality of war SOMEWHERE, since the fine folks of the fourth estate don't seem too interested in the word "reality", unless it's followed by the word "television." Either way, there are free speech issues at play here as well it seems. As Voltaire so wiselely stated: "I disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to be a douchebag."

The T-Shirt Terrorist?

zarq — Tue, 11 Oct 2005 12:26:37 -0800

Last week, a woman was forced off a Southwest Airlines flight for wearing a t-shirt. The shirt in question bore the phrase "Meet the F*ckers" and an image of US President Bush, VP Cheney and Condoleezza Rice. The passenger, Lorrie Heasley, refused to remove it after other passengers complained. Apparently "Southwest rules filed with the FAA say they can remove a passenger that is offensive, abusive, disorderly or violent or for clothing that is "lewd, obscene, or patently offensive," but the airline says the curse (not the political message) led to her being asked to leave. Ms. Heasley is now speaking with the ACLU to see if she can initiate a lawsuit, but the NYTimes checked with experts in constitutional law and they don't think she has a case.

Well, the makers of the t-shirt have responded: "If any T-Shirt Hell customer is kicked off of any commercial airline flight simply for wearing one of our shirts, we will provide you with alternate transportation to get you to your original destination. This transportation includes, but is not limited to, the T-Shirt Hell corporate jet."