What did the Comstock Act prohibit?
What did the Comstock Act prohibit?
On March 3, 1873, Congress passed the new law, later known as the Comstock Act. The statute defined contraceptives as obscene and illicit, making it a federal offense to disseminate birth control through the mail or across state lines.
What was the original intent of Comstock Law?
Known popularly as the Comstock Law, the statute’s avowed purpose was “to prevent the mails from being used to corrupt the public morals.” The Comstock Law made it a crime to sell or distribute materials that could be used for contraception or abortion, to send such materials or information about such materials in the …
What did the Comstock Act of 1873 do quizlet?
The Comstock Act of 1873: Barred the mailing of obscene publications. If erotic material is intercepted in the mail by a postmaster general and results in prosecution, the community standards that apply would be: The community where the erotic material was seized.
What was the impact of the Comstock Act of 1872?
The Comstock Act of 1873 made it illegal to send “obscene, lewd or lascivious,” “immoral,” or “indecent” publications through the mail. The law also made it a misdemeanor for anyone to sell, give away, or possess an obscene book, pamphlet, picture, drawing, or advertisement.
Why was the Comstock Act created?
Anthony Comstock had marshals sent to arrest Woodhull, after he received the literature, for violating state law. The Comstock Law of 1873 was enacted in order to restrict any individual from selling or sending what were considered obscenities, including offering any information regarding contraception and abortion.
What is an outcome of the Comstock Act quizlet?
The Comstock Act confiscated and destroyed obscene material, in the mail. It also stopped physicians from offering info to patients.
Why was the Comstock Act passed?
Is the Comstock Act still in effect?
But the Comstock Act has never been repealed; it is still on the books. This crusade resulted in the arrest and imprisonment of a multitude of Americans whose only crime was to exercise their constitutional right of free speech in ways that offended Anthony Comstock.
How does Comstock define obscenity?
The Comstock Law was terminated in 1957, just before the Roth v. United States court case, but it defined obscenity laws as anything that appealed to the prurient interest of the consumer.
Why were the Comstock laws passed?
What is the meaning of Comstock?
a disputant who advocates reform.
What’s the definition of Boomtown?
English Language Learners Definition of boomtown : a town that experiences a sudden growth in business and population : a booming town. See the full definition for boomtown in the English Language Learners Dictionary.
What is the Comstock Act?
Comstock Act, federal statute passed by the U.S. Congress in 1873 as an “Act of the Suppression of Trade in, and Circulation of, Obscene Literature and Articles of Immoral Use.”
What was the Comstock Law of 1873 Quizlet?
Comstock Law of 1873. The Comstock Law of 1873 was a federal law that made it a crime to sell or distribute materials that could be used for contraception or.
What did Comstock do for the New York State Police?
After Congress passed the bill, it designated Comstock as a special agent in the United States Post Office charged with enforcing the law. With the help of his New York Society for the Suppression of Vice, Comstock was able to arrest individuals under the new act.
Who was Anthony Comstock and what did he do?
Anthony Comstock, head of the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice, had shown members of Congress illustrations that he considered obscene and urged legislators to pass the measure to prevent crime and corruption of children.
