Deck 9: Obscenity and Indecency

Question 1

Nudity is synonymous with obscenity.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

A person who "panders" may be convicted for commercial exploitation of sexual material even though the materials are not obscene.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Adult-oriented pay-cable services such as the Playboy Channel are prohibited from operating between 6

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Lower courts have interpreted the U.S. Supreme Court case Lawrence v. Texas decision as barring prosecutions for the distribution of obscene materials.

Question 5

The governmental interest in protecting minors justifies laws which prohibit the sale of sexually-oriented magazines to minors, even when those magazines may be legally sold to adults.

Question 6

A reporter investigating child pornography on the Internet has a First Amendment right to download images of children engaged in sexual acts.

Question 7

In Reno v. ACLU and Sable Communications v. FCC, the U.S. Supreme Court said that users of the Internet and dial-it telephone services are unlikely to accidentally confront indecent sexual expression.

Question 8

In Reno v. ACLU, the U.S. Supreme Court found Congress' definition of Internet indecency was unconstitutionally vague.

Question 9

In 2006, Congress increased the maximum penalty the FCC can impose per indecency violation from $32,500 to $325,000.

Question 10

The Stanley v. Georgia ruling does not protect the private possession of materials depicting children engaged in sexual activities.

Question 11

A community may use its zoning authority to control the location of sexually-oriented businesses.

Question 12

Until 2003, FCC fines for indecent broadcasts were rare and only a small amount.

Question 13

The U.S. Supreme Court's Pacifica Foundation case is precedent for local laws prohibiting the sale or rental to adults of indecent DVDs.

Question 14

The V-Chip requirement has reduced the FCC's interest in enforcing indecency rules for television.

Question 15

The Family Movie Act allows the sale and use of software permitting users to render "imperceptible" objectionable portions of films. Viewers are not allowed to make fixed copies of the altered versions of films.

Question 16

A website with information about preventing breast cancer, including photographs showing how a breast self-examination should be conducted, is subject to the FCC's indecency rules.

Question 17

Members of a church may picket on the public sidewalk adjacent to an adult video store as long as they do not trespass or block the entrances. This picketing is legal even if the church members seek to deter potential customers from entering the store.

Question 18

The FCC does not regard the words "pissed" and "crap" to be presumptively indecent and profane when uttered in entertainment programming airing at 9 p.m.

Question 19

The producers and distributors of materials depicting "actual sexually explicit conduct" are required to maintain records of their models' ages and identities.

Question 20

According to the U.S. Supreme Court, public libraries receiving federal funds may be required to install filters on computers connected to the Internet.

Question 21

The availability of sexual materials via the Internet is evidence that they are acceptable under community standards.

Question 22

At the federal level, enforcement of obscenity varies from administration to administration.

Question 23

The Bush administration sought to punish distributors of adult materials; under the Obama administration, the Department of Justice focused on the exploitation of children.

Question 24

By 2015, twenty states had enacted laws separating teen sexting from child pornography.

Question 25

Enforcement of broadcast indecency is a highly politicized process.

Question 26

The FCC has yet to assess an indecency fine at the new level authorized by Congress in 2006.

Question 27

The Supreme Court in the Fox II case found the FCC's indecency policy to violate the First Amendment.

Question 28

California's ban on the sale or rental of violent video games to minors was found constitutional in Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association.

Question 29

In Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association, the Court applied strict scrutiny and found California's evidence in support of the video game law not compelling.

Question 30

There is a longstanding tradition of restricting children's access to depictions of violence.

Question 31

The majority of states have enacted revenge porn statutes.

Question 32

Images do not have to be obscene, as defined by the Miller test, to be punishable under state revenge porn statutes.

Question 33

State revenge porn laws generally focus on the following elements: 1) nonconsensual disclosure of images; 2) depicting nudity or sexually explicit conduct; and 3) causing harm, such as financial loss or mental anguish.

Question 34

The posting of revenge porn on websites such as Facebook and Instagram violates the terms of service of those companies and victims may ask those companies to remove such images.

Question 35

Filing takedown notices under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act has proven to be an effective remedy for victims of revenge porn.

Question 36

When control of the House and Senate was split between Democrats and Republicans after the 2018 elections, only extreme cases of broadcast indecency were likely to be pursued by the FCC.

Question 37

The FCC did not find a single broadcast to be indecent between 2009 and 2013.

Question 38

After wrestling with the problem of obscenity for many years, Justice Brennan wrote in his dissenting opinion in the Paris Adult Theatre case that:

A) all definitions of obscenity are vague
B) the government should severely restrict all sexual content
C) the government should restrict only sexual content appealing to "deviants"
D) the government should focus on media violence, not portrayals of sexuality
E) none of the above

Question 39

The 1957 case in which the U.S. Supreme Court first held that obscenity was unprotected expression:

A) Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire
B) Roth v. United States
C) Miller v. California
D) Regina v. Hicklin
E) none of the above

Question 40

Prior restraints are:

A) prohibited in obscenity cases
B) permitted in the case of sexually oriented films if the procedures specified in Freedman v. Maryland are followed
C) permitted if police officials believe materials are probably obscene
D) B and C
E) none of the above

Question 41

In an obscenity prosecution against the current issue of Hustler Magazine, the jury:

A) would be able to focus on the nudity and disregard the articles, essays, and interviews
B) would be required to address the literary and artistic merit of the magazine as a whole
C) would be allowed to apply the standards of the least tolerant people in the community
D) A and C
E) none of the above

Question 42

After a particularly contentious and close NASCAR race, the winning driver exults in a cable television interview that his rival drivers "can all kiss my ass." This interview is cablecast live at 7 p.m. This cablecast is:

A) obscene
B) indecent
C) profane
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Question 43

The case in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment allows the government to seize a defendant's entire entertainment business, including constitutionally protected books and films, after a racketeering conviction:

A) Alexander v. United States
B) Playboy Entertainment v. United States
C) Miller v. California
D) Jacobson v. United States
E) none of the above

Question 44

A video store that rents or sells sexually-explicit DVDs only to willing adults:

A) has a First Amendment right to distribute even obscene materials
B) may be prosecuted under the theory of Paris Adult Theatre v. Slaton if the DVDs are obscene
C) would be required to prove that its DVDs are not obscene before receiving a business license
D) B and C
E) none of the above

Question 45

The case in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Congress could ban obscene sexual messages provided by commercial telephone services, but could not ban indecent telephone services:

A) FCC v. Pacifica Foundation
B) New York v. Ferber
C) Sable Communications v. FCC
D) Reno v. ACLU
E) none of the above

Question 46

The V-Chip:

A) is required on computers
B) eliminated the need for indecency rules for television
C) works only on broadcast programming, not cable or satellite programming
D) has been found to be unconstitutional
E) none of the above

Question 47

Parents who are concerned about their children's access to sexually-explicit cable television programs may:

A) purchase a V-chip equipped TV receiver and block reception of all programs rated TV-MA
B) ask their cable company to block their home from receiving channels featuring sexually-explicit material
C) ask their cable company for a lockbox
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Question 48

In the Fox Broadcasting II case, the U.S. Supreme Court:

A) found the FCC's indecency policy violated the First Amendment
B) found the FCC failed to give Fox and ABC fair notice that fleeting expletives and momentary nudity could be found indecent
C) broadcasting is no longer subject to reduced First Amendment protection
D) A and C
E) none of the above

Question 49

Enforcement of broadcast indecency:

A) varies according to the political party affiliation of the FCC chair
B) was vigorously pursued by the Obama administration
C) is generally supported by Republicans
D) A and C
E) none of the above

Question 50

The Illinois nonconsensual/revenge porn law:

A) is considered to be the strongest such law yet enacted
B) was viewed by the Illinois Supreme Court as a privacy regulation similar to laws regulating the unauthorized disclosure of private information, such as medical records
C) provides for criminal liability regardless of whether the private sexual content is obtained and distributed with consent
D) all of the above
E) A & B only

Question 51

What is the definition of the following term:
-Obscenity.

Question 52

What is the definition of the following term:
-Broadcast indecency.

Question 53

What is the definition of the following term:
-Safe harbor.

Question 54

What is the definition of the following term:
-V-Chip.

Question 55

What is the definition of the following term:
-CIPA.

Question 56

What is the definition of the following term:
-Nonconsensual/revenge porn.

Question 57

Explain why the FCC is allowed to impose sanctions on indecent broadcasts after such programs are broadcast, but the agency is not allowed to review material prior to its broadcast.

Question 58

Discuss the rationale for the FCC's F-word ruling and the problems this ruling created for broadcasters.

Question 59

The city council of Virtue, concerned with the proliferation of sexual material on cable, prohibits the cablecasting of "indecent" programming at any time. The ordinance defines indecency as the "patently offensive depiction or description of sexual or excretory activities and organs." Further, the ordinance specifies that the city council, in response to citizen complaints, will assess whether particular programs are indecent. Is this ordinance constitutional? In your answer, discuss the ordinance's complete ban on cable indecency, the definition of indecency, and whether it is permissible for a city council to determine whether cable programs are unprotected speech.