3 mars 1873 - Comstock laws
Description:
a set of federal acts passed by the United States Congress under the Grant administration along with related state laws.[1] The "parent" act (Sect. 211) was passed on March 3, 1873, as the Act for the "Suppression of Trade in, and Circulation of, Obscene Literature and Articles of Immoral Use". This Act criminalized usage of the U.S. Postal Service to send any of the following items:
obscenity
contraceptives
abortifacients
sex toys
personal letters with any sexual content or information
or any information regarding the above items.
A similar federal act (Sect. 245) of 1909 [3] applied to delivery by interstate "express" or any other common carrier (such as railroad, instead of delivery by the U.S. Post Office).
In Washington, D.C., where the federal government had direct jurisdiction, another Comstock act (Sect. 312) also made it illegal (punishable by up to 5 years at hard labor), to sell, lend, or give away any "obscene" publication, or article used for contraception or abortion.
Numerous failed attempts were made to repeal or modify these laws and eventually, many of them (or portions of them) were declared unconstitutional. In 1919 in a law journal, a judge, after reviewing the various laws (especially state laws) called the set of them "haphazard and capricious" and lacking "any clear, broad, well-defined principle or purpose".
Ajouté au bande de temps:
History of Leadership In The States
Date:
