Supreme Court Cases Dealing with Pornography

The Supreme Court has addressed pornography more often than almost any other issue of comparable specificity, and small wonder why—the Court has read an implicit obscenity exception to the free speech clause, giving it the unenviable responsibility of interpreting an unstated 18th-century definition of obscenity two centuries later. And the more the Court has attempted to define obscenity, the more complex that definition has become.The Supreme Court made things slightly easier for itself in three cases, all decided between 1967 and 1973.Jacobellis v. Ohio (1967)Forced to determine whether the art film Les Amants was obscene, despite the fact that it was obviously not intended to serve as pornography, the Court acknowledged the difficulty of its job—before ruling in favor of the film on multiple, vague grounds. Justice Potter Stewart memorably captured the Courts challenge: It is possible to read the Courts opinion in [past pornography cases] in a variety of ways. In saying this, I imply no criticism of the Court, which, in those cases, was faced with the task of trying to define what may be indefinable. I have reached the conclusion, which I think is confirmed at least by negative implication in the Courts [recent decisions] that, under the First and Fourteenth Amendments, criminal laws in this area are constitutionally limited to hard-core pornography. I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description, and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it, and the motion picture involved in this case is not that. These are the rights that appellant is asserting in the case before us. He is asserting the right to read or observe what he pleases -- the right to satisfy his intellectual and emotional needs in the privacy of his own home. He is asserting the right to be free from state inquiry into the contents of his library. Georgia contends that appellant does not have these rights, that there are certain types of materials that the individual may not read or even possess. Georgia justifies this assertion by arguing that the films in the present case are obscene.But we think that mere categorization of these films as obscene is insufficient justification for such a drastic invasion of personal liberties guaranteed by the First and Fourteenth Amendments. Whatever may be the justifications for other statutes regulating obscenity, we do not think they reach into the privacy of ones own home. If the First Amendment means anything, it means that a State has no business telling a man, sitting alone in his own house, what books he may read or what films he may watch. Our whole constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control mens minds. The difficulty is that we do not deal with constitutional terms, since obscenity is not mentioned in the Constitution or Bill of Rights †¦ for there was no recognized exception to the free press at the time the Bill of Rights was adopted which treated obscene publications differently from other types of papers, magazines, and books †¦ What shocks me may be sustenance for my neighbor. What causes one person to boil up in rage over one pamphlet or movie may reflect only his neurosis, not shared by others. We deal here with a regime of censorship which, if adopted, should be done by constitutional amendment after full debate by the people.Obscenity cases usually generate tremendous emotional outbursts. They have no business being in the courts. If a constitutional amendment authorized censorship, the censor would probably be an administrative agency. Then criminal prosecutions could follow as, if, and when publishers defied the censor and sold their literature. Under that regi me, a publisher would know when he was on dangerous ground. Under the present regime -- whether the old standards or the new ones are used -- the criminal law becomes a trap. In practice, all but the most harmful and exploitative forms of pornography have generally been decriminalized despite the Courts relative lack of clarity on this issue.

A Story of a Madman or a Paranoid Murderer - 1310 Words

A Story of a Madman or a Paranoid Murderer? Often referred to as the â€Å"architect of the modern short story,† Edgar Allen Poe paints a vivid picture of a seemingly insane man murdering his elderly roommate in the short story, â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† (â€Å"Biography†). It is a great example of Poe’s style, with the major themes being insanity, paranoia, and murder. â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† is a short story written with the intent of focusing on the psyche of the main character. Since it is told from a first-person point of view, the audience is able to see what the protagonist is thinking and how his plan of this murder develops (â€Å"Biography†). This story might just seem like a tale of insanity, guilt, and murder, but upon further examination, it is a tale of moral deficiency, superhuman ability, paranoia, and ironic dissemblance. In â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart†, Poe’s use of the unreliable narrator is very well executed, because the lack of certain details adds to the suspense of this grim story. The reader is able to focus on the raw details of the murderous plot and the events that follow, in addition by leaving out certain details, it leads to some interesting questions. Who is the narrator’s audience that he is confessing the details of his crime to? What is the disease that he speaks of in the beginning? Is guilt the main reason for his confession at the end of the story? Perhaps the most obvious question raised after reading â€Å"The Tell Tale Heart,† is whether the main character actuallyShow MoreRelatedThe Tell Tale Heart By Edgar Allan Poe1630 Words   |  7 PagesThe Tell-Tale Heart is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe. It is told by anonymous narrator who endeavors to convince the reader of his sanity, while describing a murder he committed. The victim was an old man wit h a filmy vulture-eye (cataract eye), as the narrator calls it. The murder is carefully calculated, and the murderer dismembers the body and hides it under the floorboards. Ultimately the narrator s guilt manifests itself in the form of the sound ( hallucinatory) of the old man sRead MoreThemes Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde And Macbeth1322 Words   |  6 Pagestheir goal as they act without care of the consequences, which result in violent battles with others. Jekyll, when he is transformed into Hyde, does not have concern for what happens to others. Enfield, a cousin of Utterson, relays to Utterson the story of how Hyde hurts a young girl. â€Å"The man [who tramples] calmly over the child’s body and [leaves] her screaming on the ground† is Hyde, whom Enfield envisions in his head whenever walking by the corner of the incident (Stevenson 7). Hyde, being theRead MoreThe Tell Tale Heart By Edgar Allen Poe1427 Words   |  6 PagesGhoshal 27 September 2015 The Tell Tale Heart In â€Å"The Tell Tale Heart†, by Edgar Allen Poe, the reader is presented with the short story of a madman who narrates his murder of an old man because, â€Å"he had the eye of a vulture --a pale blue eye, with a film over it† (Poe 105). The narrator has thought thoroughly about his plan to murder this old man, and the murderer then stashes his body underneath the floorboards. Eventually, his guilt overcomes him and he starts hallucinating that he hears theRead MoreThe Journey of the Mind in Shakespeares Hamlet757 Words   |  3 Pagescircumstances surrounding this lead into the encompassing self-tribulation that will be the theme of his journey, with his inner shifting subconsciousness affecting the outer events of his journey. The journey’s catalyst was his decision to seek the murderer of the prior king, leading into his confrontation with the elderly seer and planting the first seeds of doubt. Going from his assuredness in addressing the people prior, we n ow have insight to the depths of his pride at even the slightest hint thatRead MoreThe Cask Of Amontillado, By Edgar Allan Poe2376 Words   |  10 Pageshave taken different positions on the motives and sanity for the narratives in Edgar Allan Poe’s, â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† (1846) and â€Å"Tell-Tale Heart† (1843). Some view the stories as having a motive and the characters as being completely sane. While others say that there were no reasons for the murders in both of these stories, but came to the conclusion that the characters were psychotic and just ill- natured people. Also, they believe that a simple insult should not cause a person to kill. ThoseRead MoreLolita by Vladimir Nabokov1627 Words   |  7 PagesThe narrator of a story is the person or object who is telling the story from, typically, their point of view. The narrator is normally a character within the story, who provides a further explanation as to what is occurring throughout the piec e of literature. It is important to have a reliable narrator to tell the story. An unreliable narrator tends to lead to doubts on whether or not the story is being told exactly how it happened and being told without bias. An unreliable narrator can leave theRead MoreComparison of Edgar Allen Poes The Tell-Tale Heart and Stephen Kings Misery2211 Words   |  9 Pages--not destroyed --not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How, then, am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily --how calmly I can tell you the whole story. (Poe, 1843) Poe states that he does not know how he first acquired the idea but that once it had entered into his mind that the idea overtook him. He had no reason for what he had done and in fact, he loved the old man and the old man had neverRead More Helter Skelter - Manson vs. the Myth Essay1631 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"I walk your streets and am right out there with you,† boasted serial killer Charles Manson almost twenty years after being sentenced to life in prison (Emmons 227). Most people would probably dismiss this statement as the delusional ranting of a madman, yet, were they to examine the attention of and, possibly, the influence on society that Manson has had and continues to have, they would be forced to admit that there is some truth to Manson’s proclamation. [2] When Manson and his so-calledRead MoreThe Tell Tale Heart By Edgar Allan Poe2132 Words   |  9 Pagesâ€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† Theme The short story â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† by Edgar Allan Poe, is told from the point of view of a man who, who has an ever growing obsession to kill this old blind man. The story takes place with the narrator and the old man living together. The narrator is obsessed with the old man’s vulture like eyes, which he stalks every night until he takes actions into his own hands and murders the old man getting rid of his obsession. After the murdering of the old man and hiding hisRead MoreCompare and Contrast American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis and the Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro Focussing on the Topic of the Unreliable Narrator3332 Words   |  14 PagesStevens. Both novels are comparable in the sense they examine the topic of failure using unreliable narrators that will do anything to escape the idea that they are failures. A popular debate regarding American Psycho is whether Patrick Bateman is a murderer or not, certainly Bateman describes in detail of murders he commits and why he commits them, however, certain factors bring Bateman’s reliability of narration into question. Bruno Zerweck argues that due to the lack of ‘detective framework’ and ‘unintentional

Sandro Boticelli Essay Example For Students

Sandro Boticelli Essay Sandro Botticelli, born Alessandro Mariano Filipepi, was the son of a tanner. He was born in Florence around 1445 and showed a talent for painting at a very early age. Botticelli was first apprenticed under a goldsmith named Sandro, from whom it is believed he derived his nickname. At the age of sixteen, he served an apprenticeship with the painter Fra Filippo Lippi Durant, 1953. From Lippi he learned to create the effect of transparency, to draw outlines, and to give his pictures fluidity and harmony. He also worked with painter and engraver Antonio del Pollaiuolo, from whom he gained his sense of line. By 1470, Botticelli had his own workshop and had developed a highly personal style characterized by elegant execution, a sense of melancholy, and a strong emphasis on line. Botticelli spent most of his life working for the great families of Florence, including the Medici family. Botticellis name appears regularly in the account books of members of the Medici family, for whom he painted banners, portraits, and altarpieces along with paintings of allegorical or mythological subject matter. Likenesses of the Medici family are found in various paintings including Judith, Madonna of the Magnificat, and Adoration of the Magi. Apart from his works for members of the Medici family, Botticelli received many commissions from other prominent members of the Florentine society, including the Vespucci family. Botticelli first made a name for himself by his paintings of the Virgin and Child, and was given a public commission to paint Fortitude which was to be hung in the Trade law court. In about 1481, Botticelli, along with Ghirlandaio, Perugino, and Cosimo Rosselli, was called to Rome by Pope Sixtus IV to decorate the walls of the Sistine Chapel with scenes from the Old and New Testaments. Botticelli controlled the scheme and executed three of the frescoes. The large scale of these works and the attempt to include several stages of narrative in one composition were not fully mastered and remain confused and disorganized Gowing, 1983. In his paintings, Botticelli retained enough objects and paid enough attention to the human body to create a sense of realism, but it is evident that he was more concerned with the spiritual presence of his subjects Magill, 1989. Because of this, his subjects were less individualized in terms of their clothing or bodily structure and the sense of a domestic scene was not emphasized. Feminine beauty was so much a part of Botticellis classical and religious paintings that is has been speculated that he was deeply influenced by the Neoplatonists, who equated the concept of beauty with truth Magill, 1989. Botticelli was influenced less by exciting scientific rules for drawing than by the thinking of humanists such as Ficino and the religious fervor that swept through Florence when the French invaded Italy. Botticellis brilliant drawings did not contain the grace and charm as those of Ficino, but were definite and strong. His paintings are not so much illustrations of his subjects as they are  the subjects themselves Magill, 1989. It is as though the apprehension of eternal beauty and perfection were itself a matter composed of his rhythmical lines, soothing colors, and elongated shapes. Botticellis allegorical paintings, including Primavera and The Birth of Venus, are his most successful and best-known works. These paintings are largely undocumented but can be dated in the late 1470s. Their exact meaning, as well as the circumstances surrounding their commissioning, is still uncertain. Precise identification of the figures is frustrated by the fact that Botticellis female types rarely change. This observation has lead critics to believe that the allegories were partially intended as exemplars. .u3348a7219989d2f13caed98df8e440d5 , .u3348a7219989d2f13caed98df8e440d5 .postImageUrl , .u3348a7219989d2f13caed98df8e440d5 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u3348a7219989d2f13caed98df8e440d5 , .u3348a7219989d2f13caed98df8e440d5:hover , .u3348a7219989d2f13caed98df8e440d5:visited , .u3348a7219989d2f13caed98df8e440d5:active { border:0!important; } .u3348a7219989d2f13caed98df8e440d5 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u3348a7219989d2f13caed98df8e440d5 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u3348a7219989d2f13caed98df8e440d5:active , .u3348a7219989d2f13caed98df8e440d5:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u3348a7219989d2f13caed98df8e440d5 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u3348a7219989d2f13caed98df8e440d5 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u3348a7219989d2f13caed98df8e440d5 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u3348a7219989d2f13caed98df8e440d5 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u3348a7219989d2f13caed98df8e440d5:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u3348a7219989d2f13caed98df8e440d5 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u3348a7219989d2f13caed98df8e440d5 .u3348a7219989d2f13caed98df8e440d5-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u3348a7219989d2f13caed98df8e440d5:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Dutch and flemish paintings EssayIn the 1490s, Botticelli experienced a religious crisis. Around the year 1498, Florence was troubled by the violent words of Fra Girolamo Savonarola, who spoke against anything that was not, in his view, necessary to the life of man. The population was in great turmoil, divided between his followers and the angry ones, until he was eventually burnt at the stake in the Piazza della Signoria. These events affected Botticelli deeply, and his works of the time showed a dramatic force, not previously present. They developed a more careful characterization of the faces, which became more serious and concentrated. His subsequent works reflected an intense religious devotion. Botticelli lived during a time when masterpieces were ground out on a daily basis and when humdrum or copycat art did not exist Milani, 1996. The period between 1500 and 1750 was a time of unparalleled, world-class creativity and discovery. Botticelli worked at the beginning of the Renaissance, when artists and philosophers were gaining confidence about their ability to understand nature. Although Botticelli was viewed as a technically resourceful painter in his time, he was eventually eclipsed by Leonardo da Vinci, whose range of human gestures, dynamic compositions, and use of light and shade made Botticelli seem old-fashioned. However, in the late nineteenth century, he was reinstated because he represented the simplicity and sincerity of early Italian art. Botticellis previous standing among the leading artists of his day ensured that even though the new generation of artists, such as Leonardo, Raphael, and Michelangelo, received the most important commissions, Botticellis opinion was still valued. It was suggested that to Isabella dEste that Botticelli should be invited to complement Mantegnas contribution to her Studiolo, and tow years later he was among those who were called upon to decide on the placing of Michelangelos David in Florence. After 1500, there are no paintings from Botticellis hand. He was only fifty-six, and still might have had some art left in him, but he yielded place to Leonardo and Michelangelo, and lapsed into morose poverty. Sandro Botticelli died in 1510 after painting Scenes from the Life of the Virgin, The Last Actions of St. Zanobi, and Mystic Nativity a few years earlier. .

Obedience Essays - Social Psychology, Conformity, Guggenheim Fellows

Obedience Does everyone in society go against what they believe in merely to satisfy an authority figure? Stanley Milgram's "Perils Of Obedience" expresses that most of society supports the authority figure regardless of their own personal ideals. Milgram says to the reader, "For many people, obedience is a deeply ingrained behavioral tendency, indeed a potent impulse overriding training in ethics, sympathy, and moral conduct" (Milgram 606). Is Milgram's statement telling us obedience is an unparalleled force in today's society? Two authors, George Orwell and Langston Hughes, provide us with incidents that support Milgrams findings. George Orwell's work, "Shooting an Elephant," can be used as an example of Milgram's discoveries. He recalls an account of himself as a British policeman called upon to take action against a belligerent elephant rampaging through a small Burmese Village. Orwell makes it a point to show that the natives of the village, "who at any other time would have looked upon the him in disfavor," are now backing him in hopes of the animals destruction. Orwell realizes it is quite unnecessary to kill the animal, yet does it anyway. Why might you ask? Milgrims findings on people's obedience to authority can be seen as an answer to this question. In the reading Orwell says, "And suddenly I realized that I should have to shoot the elephant after all. The people expected it of me and I had got to do it: I could feel their two thousand wills pressing me forward, irresistibly."(Orwell 771). With this statement, we can easily determine the role the villagers take on. Suddenly, they have taken on the role of the authority figure and Orwell the conforming citizen. In Milgram's "Perils Of Obedience", the test subjects or "teachers" follow the experimenter's authority and inflict punishment upon the actors or"learners" without any regard to their own feelings. In Orwell's writings, he has also put the natives or "authority" ahead of his own personal convictions and has proven Milgram an astute judge of human character. Langston Hughes, author of "Salvation" offers us a different perspective on Milgram's findings, "obedience before morality." Mr. Hughes paints a picture of himself as a little boy, whose decisions at a church revival, directly reflect mans own instinctive behavioral tendencies for obedience. A young Langston, "who's congregation wants him to go up and get saved," gives into obedience and ventures to the altar as if he has seen the light of the Holy Spirit. Can he really see it or is this just a decision to give into the congregation, or what we consider "the authority?" Milgram's "deeply ingrained human impulses" are evident at this point. Hughes goes on to say, "So I decided that maybe to save further trouble, I'd better lie, too, and say that Jesus had come, and get up and be saved; So I did" (Hughes 32). In saying this, Young Langston has obviously overlooked his personal belief of a"visual" Holy Spirit to meet the level of obedience laid out by the congregation. Once again, Stanley Milgram's theories are correct. His discoveries bind us to the fact that people may believe strongly in an idea or thought but, will overlook that belief to be obedient. In conclusion, what does this leave the reader to think? Do people conform to authority? Is society holding back its views inorder to meet a level of obedience? Stanley Milgram has pointed out a human characteristic that may very well be in each and every one of us. George Orwell and Langston Hughes have both given us two examples that support and defend this theory. With all this evidence compounded, we "the reader" can make a justified assumption that everyone in society has, at one time or another, overlooked his or her personal feelings to conform. This occurrence, whether it is instinctive or judgmental is one that each individual deals with a personal level.