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Obscene - Law Dictionary Search Results

Home Dictionary Name: obscene

Obscene

Obscene, means if there be no abstract definition ........ Should not the word 'obscene' be allowed to indicate the present critical point in the compromise between candor and shame at which the community may have arrived here and now, United States v. Kennerley, 209 F 119 (121) (S.D.N.Y. 1913).Obscene, the Indian Penal Code borrowed the word from the English Statute. The Common law offence of obscenity was established in England three hundred years ago when Sir Charles Sedley exposed his person to the public gaze on the balcony of a tavern. Obscenity in books, however, was punishable only before the spiritual courts because it was so held down to 1708 in which year Queen v. Read, 11 Mod 205 QB, was decided, In 1727 in the case against one Curl it was ruled for the first time that it was a Common Law offence, Ranjit D. Udeshi v. State of Maharashtra, AIR 1965 SC 881 (887): (1965) 1 SCR 65. (Indian Penal Code, s. 292)The concept of obscenity would differ from country to country dependin...


obscenity

obscenity pl: -ties 1 : the quality or state of being obscene 2 : something (as an utterance or act) that is obscene ;also : obscene material ...


obscene

obscene [Middle French, from Latin obscenus obscaenus indecent, lewd] : extremely or deeply offensive according to contemporary community standards of morality or decency see also Roth v. United States in the Important Cases section NOTE: The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that obscene applies to materials that appeal predominantly to a prurient interest in sexual conduct, depict or describe sexual conduct in a patently offensive way, and lack serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value. Material or expression deemed obscene by the court is not protected by the free speech guarantee of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. ...


Obscenity

That quality in words or things which presents what is offensive to chastity or purity of mind obscene or impure lanquage or acts moral impurity lewdness obsceneness as the obscenity of a speech or a picture...


Obscenity

Obscenity, is not deemed to be protected by the First Amendment, and the operative legal tests for obscenity are spongy and leave much to the vagaries of juries asked to evaluate expert testimony on literary merit, offensiveness, and other unmeasur-ables, Richard A. Posner, Law and Literature: A Misunderstood Relation 329 (1988).Obscenity, means (1) The quality or state of being morally abhorrent or socially taboo, esp. as a result of referring to or depicting sexual or excretory functions. (2) Something (such as an expression or act) that has this quality, Black's Law Dictionary, 7th Edn., p. 1104....


Obscene Publication Act, 1857 (English)

Obscene Publication Act, 1857 (English), (20 & 21 Vict. c. 83). See INDECENT PRINTS....


Campbell's (Lord) Acts (English)

Campbell's (Lord) Acts (English)-(1) for amending the practice in prosecutions for libel (see that title), 6 & 7 Vict. c. 96 (the LibelAct,1843); and (2) the Fatal Accidents Act,1846, now, with its amending Acts, known as the Fatal Accidents Acts, 1846 to 1908, provided for the compensation of the families of persons killed by negligence (q.v.). To found an action the death must have resulted from the act, neglect, or default of the defendant against whom an action founded on such act, neglect, or default would have lain at the suit of the deceased had he not succumbed to his injuries. The damages recoverable are strictly on the basis of compensation [e.g., funeral expenses not recoverable, Clark v. London General Omnibus Co., 1906 (2) KB 648]. The action, which is to compensate the wife, husband, parent, or child of the deceased, may be commenced by the executor or administrator, but if not instituted within six months, then any person interested may commence the proceedings. The acti...


Decency

Decency, in UK the word 'indecent' is used in the sense of obscenity in statutes, relating to obscenity, conveys the Idea of offending against the recognised standards of property, Commentary on the Constitution of India, Durga Das Basu, 6th Edn., Vol. C, p. 125.In India, the State can impose reasonable restrictions on the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression on the ground of decency, Constitution of India, Art. 19(2).Decency, the meaning of the term will vary according to age, culture and alike things of the audience, Rajni v. State, AIR 1958 All 360...


Indecent prints or books

Indecent prints or books. The sale, or obtaining, or procuring of such prints, with intent to sell, is a misdemeanor. The (English) Obscene Publications Act, 1857 (20 & 21 Vict. c. 83) ('Lord Campbell's Act'), gives summary powers to metropolitan or other stipendiary magistrates, or any two justices of the peace, to issue special warrants to constables for the searching of houses, etc., in which obscene books, pictures, etc., are suspected to be kept, on complaint on oath that the complainant believes that such books are there, and that one or more of the like character have been 'sold, distributed, exhibited, lent or otherwise published,' and on the magistrate, etc., being satisfied that any of the Articles are of such a character that the publication of them would be a misdemeanor, and proper to be prosecuted as such-which must be stated [see Ex parte Bradlaugh, (1878) 3 QBD 509]-he may order the seizure and destruction of such books, etc.Publication is not excused by innocent motive...


Vagrants

Vagrants, sturdy beggars; vagabonds.The Act which is now in force, embodying, mitigating, and extending numerous former provisions, is the (English) Vagrancy Act, 1824 (5 Geo. 4, c. 83). It has been extended by the Vagrancy Act, 1838, as to re-commitment on failure to prosecute, appeal, and exhibition of obscene prints; by the (English) Vagrant Act Amendment Act, 1873, as to gambling and betting in streets; by the Vagrancy Act, 1898, amended by the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1912, s. 7, as to men living on earnings of prostitution; and by (English) Poor Law Act, 1930, s. 150, as to obtaining relief by falsehood. It points out three classes of persons:-1st, idle and disorderly persons; 2nd, rogues and vagabonds; 3rd, incorrigible rogues.First. Idle and Disorderly Persons.-The following are, under the Vagrancy Act, 1824, s. 3, to be deemed 'idle and disorderly persons,' so that any justice of the peace may commit them (being convicted before him) to the house of correction to hard labou...


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