{{short description|Term used in U.S. obscenity law}} {{Multiple issues| {{Sources exist|date=October 2024}} {{More footnotes needed|date=October 2024}} }} {{Sex and the Law}} '''Patently offensive''' is a term used in United States law regarding obscenity under the First Amendment.
The phrase "patently offensive" first appeared in ''Roth v. United States'', referring to any obscene acts or materials that are considered to be openly, plainly, or clearly visible as offensive to the viewing public. The ''Roth'' standard outlined what is to be considered obscene and thus not under First Amendment protection. The ''Roth'' standard was largely replaced by the ''Miller'' test established by ''Miller v. California'' (1973).
==Roth standard== {{Main|Roth v. United States}} According to the "Roth Standard" a work is obscene if: *The dominant theme of the material taken as a whole appeals to a prurient interest in sex, *The material is ''patently offensive'' because it affronts contemporary community standards relating to the description or representation of sexual matters, *The material is utterly without redeeming social value
==Miller test== {{main|Miller test}}
The Miller test was developed in the 1973 case ''Miller v. California''.<ref>*[http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/printer_friendly.pl?page=us/413/15.html Text of the decision and dissents], from findlaw.com</ref> It has three parts:
*Whether the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest, *Whether the work depicts/describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct or excretory functions<ref>The syllabus of the case mentions only sexual conduct, but excretory functions are explicitly mentioned on page 25 of the majority opinion.</ref> specifically defined by applicable state law, *Whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.
Chief Justice Warren E. Burger, writing for the majority, included the following definitions of what may be "patently offensive":
*"Representations or descriptions of ultimate sex acts normal or perverted, actual or simulated." *"Representations or descriptions of masturbation, excretory functions, and lewd exhibitions of the genitals."
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Pornography#Legal_status|Pornography legality}}
Category:Supreme Court of the United States Category:Obscenity law
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