A new federal obscenity sentence has been issued against a Montana man who operated a catalog business called "Suzie's Corral." Gary Robinson was said to have sold bestiality and scat videos, distributing them via UPS. AFAIK it's the first such obscenity prosecution in Montana, period. The Billings Gazette has more:
The videotapes, which had titles like "Dogs and Horses and Pigs and Chickens," contained graphic scenes of bestiality and other sexual activity that involved excretory functions, Mercer said. Transportation by common carrier of obscene material in interstate commerce is a crime, Mercer said, and is not protected by the First Amendment guarantee of free speech.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1973 that to be obscene, material must appeal to the "prurient interests," be "patently offensive" and lack serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value. The court said obscene material should be judged by local standards. Ultimately, the local standards would be decided by a jury.
Link to local news story, and link to press release from the United States Attorney for the
District of Montana, which is — oddly — probably not worksafe. (via politech)
