MDIA 2000 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Miller Test, Dominick Fernow, Profanity
Document Summary
First amendment freedom of religion, to press, of speech, to petition, to assemble: there"s a difference between the government and private entities. If no, it"s not a 1st amendment issue. Strict scrutiny harder for government to win, have to prove a compelling state interest : least restrictive means tailor law to not censor something else by accident. Intermediate scrutiny important state interest, substantially related, ample alternate chain of command: easier for government to prove and win. Unprotected types of speech: incite to violence, fighting words, true threats, obscenity, child pornography. Work taken as a whole along with contemporary community standards and ask how much of it appeals to prurient (morbid/shameful) interest. Patently offensive and defined by state law. Word taken as whole and lack of serious social value. Less protected: commercial (because of fraud), profanity, tortious, sexually explicit. Profanity and sexually explicit less protected to protect children.
