Who will win - the state or the defendants?

Question

Charlie and Ken got together and agreed to send the late photographer Robert Mapplethorpe's photographs over the Internet to their friend Hank, who lived in Alaska. The photos included various genitalia nailed to boards, groups of naked men kissing, assorted nipple piercings and depictions of nude children. Charlie uploaded the photos on his computer and hit the "send" button.. All three men have been charged under Pennsylvania's obscenity statute that uses the Miller test to define unprotected obscene works. The men say the photos are art.
What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

ANSWER: Answers may vary: Using the Miller test, 1. according to contemporary community standards, 2. the work must appeal to prurient interests (inciting shameful or lustful interest in sex, nudity o excretion), 3. the work taken as a whole lacks serious literary, artistic, scientific or political value. Many students ail to read carefully and will assume the "depictions of nude children" are child pornography. In Mapplethorpe's work the children were alone and in tasteful, artistic – but not sexual – poses. If the students find the photos obscene, then Charlie and Ken are guilty of sending unprotected speech over the Internet. Hank would only be guilty if he had knowledge the photos were coming. One has to examine Stanley v. Georgia and its progeny to determine if Hank committed a crime if he kept the obscene material (not child pornography) once he received it.