Then, why can't I shout "FIRE" in a theatre? It's a private business.....I know the reason - public danger....and THAT'S the reason I think obscenity/porno should NOT be part of "free" speech - public danger. Does that make any sense to you?
public danger...........lol
"Then, why can't I shout "FIRE" in a theatre? It's a private business.....I know the reason - public danger....and THAT'S the reason I think obscenity/porno should NOT be part of "free" speech - public danger. Does that make any sense to you?"
It does. The government has a compelling interest in public safety. I can see that same argument for child porn - we have a compelling interest in protecting children. Like yelling fire that need to protect children from the exploitation in child porn is far greater than the right to free speech. So bannig child porn is a slam dunk.
To evaluate general obscenity the question comes down to whether the harm to society is sufficient to over-ride the freedom speech issue. To me it seems to depend in what you are doing with your obscenity - if its in the bedroom between married adults I don't see where the government has any interest at all.
If the obscenity is on a billboard across the street from an elementary school, the government has a clear interest.
What I can't tell you is where the cutoff in the middle should be.
A community could just as easily say Free Republic is a “public danger”. That’s why such a danger has to be much more specific and imminent in order to regulate speech rather than the public danger of pornography among adults in a private setting.