Comstock laws
1873 U.S. laws prohibiting the dissemination of obscene or contraceptive material / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Comstock Act of 1873 and 24 state-level "Little Comstocks" criminalized the use of the United States Postal Service to send obscenity, contraceptives, abortifacients, sex toys, personal letters with any sexual content or information, or any information regarding the above. The Act made it illegal (up to 5 years of hard labor) to sell, lend, or give away any "obscene" publication or article used for contraception or abortion. The Act is codified at 18 U.S.C. Chapter 71, §§ 1460–1470 with the most essential material in §1461 and has been amended five times.
This article may contain an excessive amount of intricate detail that may interest only a particular audience. Specifically, too much info about other subjects that are not the Comstock laws. (February 2024) |
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 Congress United States Congress |
Effective | 1873 |
Citations | |
Public law | 18 U.S.C. Chapter 71, §§ 1460–1470 |
Legislative history | |
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The 43rd United States Congress passed the Comstock Act[s] on March 2, 1873 as the Act for the Suppression of Trade in, and Circulation of, Obscene Literature and Articles of Immoral Use and President Ulysses S. Grant signed it into law on March 3, 1873. The act is associated with U.S. Postal Inspector and anti-vice activist Anthony Comstock.
In the 21st century, judges and lawmakers cite the Comstock Act as a possible justification for criminalizing the mailing of abortion medication.[1][2] In 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice argued that mailing abortion drugs does not violate the Comstock Act.[3] In 2023, a federal judge mentioned the Comstock Act in a ruling about the medication abortion drug mifepristone (Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk, Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine et al v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration et al, (2023).[4] The United States appealed the case and it is currently being decided by the United States Supreme Court.[5] In 2024, 20 Republican attorneys general relied upon the Comstock Act when they wrote to Walgreens and CVS objecting against the distribution of abortion pills.[6] In 2024, Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) suggested a plan to repeal the Comstock Act.[7]
Some contemporary American judges and lawmakers cite the Comstock Act as a possible justification for criminalizing the mailing of abortion medication while others deny that justification and/or call for the Comstock Act's repeal.