It’s been an interesting month for obscenity questions, as a naked mannequin and some “milk nymphos” have again raised the issue of what it means to be obscene.
First, in Washington, a rare federal obscenity case was dismissed for insufficient evidence. As the Wall Street Journal earlier explained, the case originally stemmed from a couple gross pornos and a movie trailer:
[Porn producer John "Buttman"] Stagliano and two of his companies were indicted in federal district court in Washington in April 2008 on seven counts of distributing obscene, sexually graphic videos that U.S. Justice Department prosecutors allege have no artistic or scientific value and cut against the community standard of what is acceptable. He faces up to 32 years behind bars if convicted.
. . .
The evidence against Stagliano is two DVDs — “Jay Sin’s Milk Nymphos” and “Joey Silvera’s Storm Squirters 2″ — as well as a movie trailer downloaded from the Evil Angel site. An FBI agent bought the movies for $57.48 in December 2007.
In the end, the government failed to produce enough evidence to show that any of the relevant defendants were actually involved in distributing the allegedly obscene material. In the course of dismissing the case against all defendants, Judge Leon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia also chided the government to be more careful when bringing future obscenity cases:
“I trust the government will learn a lesson from its experience in this case,” Judge Leon continued, adding later, “Hopefully, the courts and Congress will [provide] greater guidance to the judges in whose courtrooms these cases will be tried” since there were “difficult, challenging and novel questions” raised … and there are constitutional interests at stake here.”
Although the case was dismissed, the poor jury was still subjected to a 50-minute clip of “Milk Nymphos.” Here’s hoping I don’t get called for jury duty if the government plans to pursue more of these cases.
I think we can agree that this movie is obscene everywhere.
Second, the people of Beatrice, Nebraska are dealing with their own obscenity issues. This time, happily, bodily fluids are not at issue; in fact, there isn’t really a body at all. Rather, the people of Beatrice were appalled when a naked mannequin appeared in a downtown store window. Officers were called to the scene when the mannequin’s pants fell down to its ankles. When the officers were unable to find the store’s owner, they papered over the store’s window. The store owner is pissed and is threatening to sue, but the city attorney is musing that the mannequin might truly have been obscene. The mannequin is now wearing a tasteful bikini and sporting a rifle.
All I can say is, having lived in Nebraska and being a current resident of DC, I’m somehow not surprised that a mannequin is obscene in Beatrice while “Fetish Fanatic 5” is not in DC.
-Michael
