Obscenity and the First Amendment

During the 2023 legislative session, South Dakota lawmakers introduced five different bills that sought to regulate the spread of obscenity, especially by limiting the access of minors to harmful materials. Despite a growing public awareness of the harms caused by obscene material and programs, not one of the anti-obscenity bills made it through the legislature. Michael Pauley is joined by Norman Woods of the South Dakota Family Heritage Alliance to discuss the debate surrounding obscenity laws, the role of the courts and their interpretation of the First Amendment, and the surprising involvement of South Dakota’s public-school establishment in opposing anti-obscenity legislation.

You can listen to Obscenity and the First Amendment online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Obscenity and the First Amendment is an episode from Faith and Politics by Michael Pauley.

This episode is 43:10 long.

This episode was published on May 9, 2023.

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