Comstock Act of 1873
United States anti-obscenity law / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Comstock Act refers to a series of current provisions in Federal law, that generally criminalize the involvement of the United States Postal Service, its officers, or a common carrier in conveying obscene matter, crime-inciting matter, or certain abortion-related matter.[1] The Comstock Act is largely codified across title 18 of the United States Code and was enacted beginning in 1872 with the attachment of an off-topic rider to a postal service reconsolidation bill. Amended multiple times since initial enactment, with it amended most recently in 1996, the act is nonetheless often associated with U.S. Postal Inspector and anti-vice activist Anthony Comstock.[2]
Long title | Act for the Suppression of Trade in, and Circulation of, Obscene Literature and Articles of Immoral Use |
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Nicknames | Comstock Act of 1873 |
Enacted by | the 43rd United States Congress |
Codification | |
Acts amended | Sec. 148 of an Act to revise, consolidate, and amend the Statutes relating to the Post-office Department |
U.S.C. sections created | 18 U.S.C. § 552, 18 U.S.C. § 1462, 18 U.S.C. § 1463, 19 U.S.C. § 1305, 39 U.S.C. § 3001(e) |
U.S.C. sections amended | 18 U.S.C. § 1461 |
Legislative history | |
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Major amendments | |
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United States Supreme Court cases | |
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The law was applied broadly for much of its history, before the scope of enforcement narrowed after various court rulings, and modern enforcement is primarily focused on prosecuting child pornography (with the most recent conviction under the Act being made in 2021).[3][4] In spite of its contentious nature, something that has throughout the years spawned a variety of legal challenges on enumerated powers doctrine, vagueness doctrine, First Amendment grounds, etc., the Comstock Act has thus far been widely upheld as constitutional.[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]
The relevancy to abortion, currently mentioned in the statute, has recently become a point of debate following the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (2022).[14] The law does not criminalize obscenity, crime-inciting-or-soliciting matter, or abortion directly but it criminalizes the use of the mail, a common carrier, or an interactive computer service in the conveyance of these materials.