What is the Comstock Act?
Named for Anthony Comstock, a zealous crusader against what he considered to be obscenity, the act criminalized publication, distribution, and possession of information about or devices or medications for “unlawful” abortion or contraception.
Who was Anthony Comstock and what did he do?
Anthony Comstock. …federal statute known as the Comstock Law, which outlawed the transportation of obscene matter in the mails. From that year until his death he served (without pay until 1906) as a special agent of the U.S. Post Office Department. Also in 1873 he founded the New York Society for the….
What did Comstock do for the New York State Police?
After Congress passed the bill, it designated Comstock as a special agent in the United States Post Office charged with enforcing the law. With the help of his New York Society for the Suppression of Vice, Comstock was able to arrest individuals under the new act.
What impact did the Comstock Law have on the Supreme Court?
The Comstock Law brought reproductive issues to the forefront of American society and paved the way for many future Supreme Court Cases on relevant topics. The Comstock Law was enforced until 1965 when the landmark decision of Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) found it unconstitutional to restrict access...
What was the Comstock Act?
(Symbol of the " New York Society for the Suppression of Vice ", advocating book-burning, public domain). The Comstock Act of 1873 made it illegal to send “obscene, lewd or lascivious,” “immoral,” or “indecent” publications ...
What law made it illegal to send obscene, lewd, or lascivious publications through the?
The Comstock Act of 1873 made it illegal to send “obscene, lewd or lascivious,” “immoral,” or “indecent” publications through the mail. The law also made it a misdemeanor for anyone to sell, give away, or possess an obscene book, pamphlet, picture, drawing, or advertisement.
Why was the Comstock Act passed?
Anthony Comstock, head of the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice, had shown members of Congress illustrations that he considered obscene and urged legislators to pass the measure to prevent crime and corruption of children.
What was the breadth of the legislation?
The breadth of the legislation included writings or instruments pertaining to contraception and abortion, even if written by a physician. Although officially titled An Act for the Suppression of Trade In, and Circulation of, Obscene Literature and Articles of Immoral Use, the statute did not provide a definition of obscenity.
Why did Comstock enforce the sections in the Act that dealt with birth control?
This concerned social reformers because it prevented women from controlling the size of their families, a particular hardship for those with small incomes.
Which case applied the Hicklin test?
The judge applied the Hicklin test from the British decision in Regina v. Hicklin (1868): “I think the test is this, whether the tendency of the matter charged as obscenity is to deprave and corrupt those whose minds are open to immoral influences, and into whose hands a publication of this sort may fall.”.
What did the petitioners argue about the anti-obscenity provisions?
The petitioners argued that its anti-obscenity provisions had been “enforced to destroy the liberty of conscience in matters of religion, against the freedom of the press and to the great hurt of the learned professions.”.
Why was the Comstock Law so controversial?
The Comstock Law was a controversial law because it limited the reproductive rights of women and violated every person’s right to privacy. This federal law was the beginning of a long fight over the reproductive rights of women which is still being waged.
What was the purpose of the Comstock Law?
Anthony Comstock, who was the head of the Society for the Suppression of Vice, spent most of his years lobbying for the bill to be passed into federal law. The Comstock Law of 1873 was enacted in order to restrict any individual from selling or sending what were considered obscenities, including offering any information regarding contraception and abortion. Punishment for violating the law was imprisonment for no less than six months and no more than five years or a fine not less than one hundred dollars and not more than two thousand dollars.
How long was the Comstock Law?
Punishment for violating the law was imprisonment for no less than six months and no more than five years or a fine not less than one hundred dollars and not more than two thousand dollars. The Comstock Law brought reproductive issues to the forefront of American society and paved the way for many future Supreme Court Cases on relevant topics.
Why did Anthony Comstock arrest Woodhull?
Anthony Comstock had marshals sent to arrest Woodhull, after he received the literature, for violating state law. Anthony Comstock, who was the head of the Society for the Suppression of Vice, spent most of his years lobbying for the bill to be passed into federal law.
What did Thurgood Marshall say about privacy?
Then in 1969 Justice Thurgood Marshall stated that the rights to receive information and to personal privacy were fundamental to every American. This statement was part of his decision in the Supreme Court case Stanley v. Georgia (1969), which came about when a man’s house was searched by law enforcement because of his alleged bookmaking activities.
Which amendments did the Comstock Law affect?
The court decided that under the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitution, private possession of obscene materials was not a crime. Although indirectly, the Comstock Law contributed to the most popular and notorious court case about reproductive rights, Roe v. Wade (1973).
When was Comstock Law enforced?
The Comstock Law was enforced until 1965 when the landmark decision of Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) found it unconstitutional to restrict access to birth control because it interfered with a person’s right to privacy.
What is Comstock law?
The Comstock Laws were a set of federal acts passed by the United States Congress under the Grant administration along with related state laws. The "parent" act (Sect. 211) was passed on March 3, 1873, as the Act for the "Suppression of Trade in, and Circulation of, Obscene Literature and Articles of Immoral Use".
How many states have obscenity laws?
Twenty-four States (and the District of Columbia, Alaska and Hawaii) have obscenity laws, under which, because of the Federal precedent, contraceptive knowledge may be suppressed as obscene, although it is not specifically mentioned. Obscenity has never been defined in law. This produces a mass of conflicting, inconsistent judicial decision, which would be humorous, if it were not such a mortifying revelation of the limitations and perversions of the human mind.
Why did the Free Love Movement despised the Comstock Laws?
This movement despised the law because they believed it embodied the sexual oppression of women. The free-lovers argued that neither the church nor the state had the right to regulate an individual's sexual relations and that women were sexually enslaved by the institution of marriage. This made the free-lovers the number one target of Comstock and his crusade against obscenity.
Why was Comstock hired?
Comstock was eventually hired by the association to help fight for the suppression of vice. The motivation for Comstock's support of Federal legislation was "The Beecher-Tilton Scandal Case" and the publicity for the case provided by Victoria Woodhull and Tennessee Claflin; writers for Woodhull & Claflin's Weekly.
What is Section 305?
Section 305 of the Tariff Act of 1922 forbade the importation of any contraceptive information or means. Numerous failed attempts were made to repeal or modify these laws and eventually, many of them (or portions of them) were declared unconstitutional.
How many states have birth control laws?
In the United States, laws relating to birth control seem to have been developed since about 1870. Congress, the legislatures of nineteen states and Puerto Rico, and the commission of the Canal Zone, have enacted statutes that clearly and definitely refer to the prevention of conception in women as a practice to be deterred by such laws. In only one state, Connecticut, is the actual act of using contraception a crime, In Canada, at least Ontario has such a law deterring contraception'. Twenty- two more states of the Union, and also Hawaii have statutes which the courts, with liberality of construction or strictness, hold to apply or not apply criminally to the matter of birth control, at least through prevention of conception, or "contraception." The District of Columbia, and the states of Rhode Island and Florida have kindred enactments, relating in the states to causing miscarriage of a pregnant woman, and in the District to abortion. Four states, Georgia, New Hampshire, New Mexico, and North Carolina, and also Alaska, appear to have no legislation that either certainly or possibly may be held to apply to birth control. All the forty- nine sets of enactments referred to, are found in the statute books under "obscenity" and "offenses against morals," as headings. In most cases the phraseology relating to contraception is found embedded among many clauses relating to pornographic or non-mailable matter, to indecent and immoral printing, writing, painting and the like. Colorado, Indiana and Wyoming mention " self-pollution ," and Massachusetts names " self-abuse " along with abortion and prevention of conception.
Who was the architect who was charged with disseminating contraceptive information?
In 1915, architect William Sanger was charged under the New York law against disseminating contraceptive information. His wife Margaret Sanger was similarly charged in 1915 for her work The Woman Rebel. Sanger circulated this work through the U.S. postal service, effectively violating the Comstock Law. On appeal, her conviction was reversed on the grounds that contraceptive devices could legally be promoted for the cure and prevention of disease.
What was the purpose of the NYSSV?
The organization's aim was to supervise, regulate, and control society's access to materials and other influences that Comstock thought to be immoral. The NYSSV was backed by wealthy philanthropists, and Comstock used their money to lobby Congress to pass the An Act for the Suppression of Trade in, and Circulation of, Obscene Literature and Articles of Immoral Use, or Comstock Act for short. Here, he was successful.
What was the Comstock Act?
The Comstock Act (1873), or the “Act of the Suppression of Trade in, and Circulation of, Obscene Literature and Articles of Immoral Use” was a statute designed to make the transmission of “obscene material” by mail a crime. The Act had far-reaching implications for Americans during the time it was enacted (mostly through the 1930s, but some remnants of the Act remained until much later). The Act, which is named after its primary champion and architect Anthony Comstock, marks an important attempt to regulate American behavior at a time when society was rapidly changing.
What did Comstock do during the Civil War?
Comstock enlisted in the military during the American Civil War, but since he was stationed away from most of the fighting, he entertained himself by launching private initiatives against tobacco, gambling, alcohol, and other practices among his fellow soldiers. He also participated in the Christian Commission—which was created by the Young Men’s Christian Association. The Christian Commission sent missionaries to battlefields to help soldiers remain moral.
How many books did Comstock confiscate?
Towards the end of his career, Comstock claimed that over the course of just ten years he had confiscated 202,204 pictures, 21,150lbs of books, and 63,819 contraceptive devises.
Where did Comstock go after the war?
After the War, Comstock moved to New York where he was shocked to see obscene material everywhere. Working off his previous reform initiatives, he engaged in his own crusade. Purchasing obscene material and using it as evidence of a violation of an existing—albeit mostly unenforced—1865 obscenity law.
Who was the first person to serve in the postal service?
This Act designated that a special agent is appointed by the postal service for enforcement, and Comstock was the first person to serve in this post. He held that position for some 40 years.
How many states enacted Comstock laws?
Anthony Comstock was jubilant over his legislative victory. Soon after the federal law was on the books, twenty-four states enacted their own versions of Comstock laws to restrict the contraceptive trade on a state level. New England residents lived under the most restrictive laws in the country.
What was the Comstock law?
Circuit Court of Appeals decision, United States v. One Package. The decision made it possible for doctors to distribute contraceptives across state lines.
How many states have laws prohibiting or restricting the sale and advertisement of contraception?
Thirty states had statutes on the books prohibiting or restricting the sale and advertisement of contraception. These laws stretched back almost a century, reflecting an underlying American belief that contraception was lewd, immoral and promoted promiscuity. Comstock's Crusade.
Where was Comstock born?
Born in rural Connecticut in 1844, Comstock served in the infantry during the Civil War, then moved to New York City and found work as a salesman. A devout Christian, he was appalled by what he saw in the city's streets. It seemed to him that the town was teeming with prostitutes and pornography.
Which state has the most restrictive laws?
But by far the most restrictive state of all was Connecticut, where the act of using birth control was even prohibited by law. Married couples could be arrested for using birth control in the privacy of their own bedrooms, and subjected to a one-year prison sentence.
Who was the first person to change birth control laws?
Sanger's Crusade. These laws remained unchallenged until birth-control advocate Margaret Sanger made it her mission to challenge the Comstock Act. The first successful change in the laws came from Sanger's 1916 arrest for opening the first birth control clinic in America.
Is birth control a federal offense?
The statute defined contraceptives as obscene and illicit, making it a federal offense to disseminate birth control through the mail or across state lines. This statute was the first of its kind in the Western world, but at the time, the American public did not pay much attention to the new law.
What did the Comstock story mean?
On how the Comstock story relates to our current reproductive issues , including challenges to Roe v. Wade.
What was the Comstock Act?
The Comstock Act, as it became known, was named after Anthony Comstock, an anti-vice crusader who later became a special agent to the U.S. Post Office, giving him the power to enforce the law.
What was the real precipitant to his becoming an anti-smut, anti-vice activist?
But the real precipitant to his becoming an anti-smut, anti-vice activist was he had a co-worker at his dry goods store who told him that he had visited a prostitute and become diseased and corrupted.
What is the most common form of birth control?
A very common form of birth control that many women used was vaginal douching, which were these syringes. And you could use them for health and hygienic purposes, but they would also put various substances in them, acidic substances that were said to have spermicidal qualities.
What is the most radical thing that free lovers believed?
Women needed money, and then they would marry men that they didn't love. They wanted all relationships to be based on love and mutual respect. The most radical thing that they believed is that if a man and a woman really loved each other, they would give birth to superior children.
What was the heart of the idea of abolishing marriage laws?
The heart of it was better equality, better division of domestic tasks, and the idea of abolishing marriage laws that two people should be able to enter into their own romantic contracts, which should not be legal. Most free lovers were opposed to abortion, except in extreme cases. ...
What was the free love movement like?
A lot of people hear free love, and they think of like, Woodstock and the summer of love. It was not about having sex with as many partners as you could.
Overview
The Comstock Laws were a set of federal acts passed by the United States Congress under the Grant administration along with related state laws. The "parent" act (Sect. 211) was passed on March 3, 1873, as the Act for the Suppression of Trade in, and Circulation of, Obscene Literature and Articles of Immoral Use. This Act criminalized any use of the U.S. Postal Service to send a…
Text of the parent federal law for the United States
This original Section 211 (enacted 1873) of the Federal Criminal Code (considered to be the "parent" of all the Comstock laws) reads as follows:
"Every obscene, lewd, or lascivious, and every filthy book, pamphlet, picture, paper, letter, writing, print, or other publication of an indecent character, and every article or thing designed, adapted, or intended for preventing conception or producing abortion, or for any indecent or immoral use; an…
Original section replaced by the parent federal law of the Comstock Laws
The following passage is the original Section 148 of the 1872 Amendment "An Act to revise, consolidate, and amend the Statutes relating to the Post-office Department," before it was changed by the parent act of the Comstock Laws, Section 211 of the Federal Criminal Code, in 1873. (United States, Congress, "An Act to Revise, Consolidate, and Amend the Statutes Relating to the Post-Office Department." An Act to Revise, Consolidate, and Amend the Statutes Relating …
Text of the federal law for the District of Columbia
The text of this act (sect. 312 of the Federal Criminal Code) read, in part:
Be it enacted.... That whoever, within the District of Columbia or any of the Territories of the United States... shall sell... or shall offer to sell, or to lend, or to give away, or in any manner to exhibit, or shall otherwise publish or offer to publish in any manner, or shall have in his possession, for any such purpose or purposes, an obscene book, pamphlet, paper, writing, adver…
State laws on birth control (contraception), etc.
The following is copied from lead part (pp. 48–50) of Ruppenthal. Modified text is in italics with reasons for such modification in a footnote. Note that Ruppenthal and Dennett differ on some topics and the research to determine who is correct has not yet been done.
Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, Volume 10, Issue 1, Article 5. 1919. Criminal Statutes on Birth Control; J. C. Ruppenthal. full text
Objective of the laws
The Comstock laws targeted pornography, contraceptive equipment, and such educational materials as descriptions of contraceptive methods and other reproductive health-related materials. Of particular note were advertisements for abortifacients found in penny papers, which offered pills to women as treatment for "obstruction of their monthly periods."
Comstock's ideas of what is "obscene, lewd, or lascivious" were quite broad. During his time of g…
Definition of obscenity
Major parts of the Comstock Acts hinge on definitions, particularly of obscenity. Though the courts originally adopted the British Hicklin test, in 1957 an American test was put into place in Roth v. United States, in which it was determined that obscenity was material whose "dominant theme taken as a whole appeals to the prurient interest" to the "average person, applying contemporary community standards," and was, "utterly without redeeming social importance."
Origins
According to Paul R. Abramson, the widespread availability of pornography during the American Civil War (1861–1865) gave rise to an anti-pornography movement, culminating in the passage of the Comstock Act in 1873, but which also dealt with birth control and abortion issues. A major supporter and active persecutor for the moral purposes of the Comstock laws was the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice, led by Comstock.