Jesse Sharpless... John Haines... George Haines... John Steel...Ephriam Martin...and Mayo... designing, contriving, and intending the morals, as well of youth as of divers other citizens of this commonwealth, to debauch and corrupt, and to raise and create in their minds inordinate and lustful desires ... in a certain house there ... scandalously did exhibit and show for money ... a certain lewd ... obscene painting representing a man in an obscene ... and indecent posture with a woman, to the manifest corruption and subversion of youth and other citizens of this commonwealth...offending [the]dignity of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The Defendent argued that his acts were in private and protected. The Court Disagreed. Judge Duncan Delivered the Verdict.
The defendents have been convicted, upon their own confession, of conduct of great moral depravity...This court is...invested with power to punish not only open violations of decency and morality, but also whatever secretly tends to undermine the principles of society...
Whatever tends to the destruction of morality, in general, may be punishable criminally. Crimes are public offenses, not because they are perpetrated publically, but because their effect is to injure the public. Buglary, though done in secret, is a public offense; and secretly destroying fences is indictable.
Hence it follows, that an offense may be punishable, if in it's nature and by it's example, it tends to the corruption or morals; although it not be committed in public.
The defendents are charged with exhibiting and showing...for money, a lewd,... and obscene painting. A picture that tends to excite lust, as strongly as writing; and the showing of a picture is as much a publication as selling a book...
If the privacy of the room was a protection, all the youth of a city might be corrupted, by taking them, one by one, into a chamber, and there inflaming their passions by the exhibition of lascivious pictures. In the eye of the law, this would be a publication, and a most pernicious one.
In demonstrating the strong feelings of the court on this issue, a second Justice, by the name of Judge Yeats, added to the pronouncement of the courts decision.
Although every immoral act, such as lying, ect... is not indictable, yet where the offense charged is destructive of morality in general...it is punishable at common law. The destruction of morality renders the power of government invalid...
The Corruption of the public mind, in general, and debauching the manners of youth, in particular, by lewd and obscene pictures exhibited to view, must necessarily be attended with the most Injurious consequences...
No man is permitted to corrupt the morals of the people, secret poision cannot be thus desseminated.
No only is "virtual" child pornography immoral, ALL Pornography is immoral.
Tell me libertarian fools, why were we so wrong at the founding of our nation (see the above decision) and okay now?
Tell me why the judges in the above decision was wrong? Enlighten us with your hedonistic wisdom.
I find it amusing that Washington, Madison and the other founders did not oppose a law that forbid ALL pornography, as well as laws that forbid blasphemy, fornication, adultery and other immoral sins, yet we are told by libertarians that all the founders support the hedonistic religion known as libertarianism.
The facts are clear, in early America, In fact, in America all the way up until the 60's PORN WAS IMMORAL, ILLEGAL, INDECENT, and FORBIDDEN UNDER LAW!!!!! What makes the America of 2002 so enlightened that we did not all see back in the first couple hundred years of our existance.
The Barbarians are at the gates my friends. In fact, the barbarians have started to enter.
Indeed I tremble for my country, when I reflect that God is just, and His justice cannot sleep forever.
Bump to that. It is ridiculous that pornography ("sexual" speech?) was ever given equal status to political speech.
Congress should redefine by statute that pornography, esp. child porn in any medium, is a non-political, non protected product used for sexual expression/entertainment and regulate and tax the hell out of adult porn and ban all child porn completely.
It is not speech, it's a product, commercially produced for profit, or self produced for personal consumption, or sharing with "friends" (barf!).
That this has to argued in our culture is pathetic.