Pornography

During class today when we were talking about pornography and the response from the right wing Christian groups I remembered the Supreme Court case Hustler Magazine v. Jerry Falwell. It was a direct confrontation between the religious right and the pornography industry. Hustler made a fake alcohol advertisement mocking Jerry Falwell. It claimed that he had sexual relations with his mother. Falwell claimed libel and went to court to get damages. The case made its way all the way to the Supreme Court where the court ruled that the lower court's decision to give damages to Falwell was unconstitutional under the first amendment since for public figures to collect damages they have to prove that the parody was knowingly false. This case takes an interesting look at the conflict between the religious right and the pornography industry. I have included the actual fake ad since it is interesting to see how far the pornography industry was able to go in fighting back against the allegations from Falwell and his group that pornography was destroying the American family. If you can't read it on this blog, it can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hustler_Magazine_v._Falwell

-Peter Lubershane