Instructor Resource
Trager, The Law of Journalism and Mass Communication 6e
CQ Press, 2018
Chapter 10: Obscenity and Indecency
Test Bank
Multiple Choice
1. In the United States, ______.
a. obscenity is protected under the First Amendment
b. obscenity is not protected under the First Amendment
c. obscenity is protected under the First Amendment in print media but not
broadcast media
d. indecency is not protected under the First Amendment in print media
2. Under the Hicklin v. Regina definition, material was obscene if it ______.
a. was highly offensive to a reasonable person
b. was patently offensive to adults
c. tended to corrupt those whose minds were open to immoral influences
d. appealed to the prurient interest as measured by contemporary community
standards
3. The Supreme Court has said the “patently offensive” part of the obscenity test
______.
a. must at least meet standards the Supreme Court has set
b. is up to the jury to define
c. is the same as the “prurient interest” part of the obscenity test
d. may be defined by state law in any way the state wants
4. The current test used in the United States to determine if material is obscene
______.
a. is a balancing test
b. requires that all three prongs of the test be met
Instructor Resource
Trager, The Law of Journalism and Mass Communication 6e
CQ Press, 2018
c. says material is obscene if it tends to corrupt those whose minds are open to
immoral influences
d. says material is obscene if it is “utterly without social value”
5. In applying the first part of the current obscenity test, jurors are supposed to
determine if material appeals to the prurient interest based on ______.
a. a standard established by the trial judge
b. the juror’s own standards
c. a nationwide standard
d. the juror’s assessment of the community’s standards
6. Variable obscenity is a term applied to ______.
a. material in which children are portrayed in sexual situations
b. material that is obscene if distributed to children but not obscene if distributed
to adults
c. the fact that obscenity definitions vary from state to state
d. material allowed on cable television but not on over-the-air television
7. Material that uses minors in sexual poses is called ______.
a. prior restraint
b. child pornography
c. variable obscenity
d. patent offensiveness
8. In the privacy of one’s home, the First Amendment ______.
a. protects possessing obscene material
b. protects possessing child pornography
c. does not protect possessing indecent material
d. protects possessing obscene material and child pornography
9. Sending obscene material over the internet ______.
a. cannot be successfully prosecuted because the internet is a nationwide mass
medium
b. cannot be successfully prosecuted because there is no “local community”
whose standards apply to the internet
c. cannot be successfully prosecuted because the First Amendment protects all
internet content
d. may be successfully prosecuted
10. The current obscenity test requires that to be found obscene, material must
______.
a. be utterly without redeeming social value
b. be dangerous to women
c. include children as actors
d. include violent scenes
e. none of these
11. In ruling on the Communications Decency Act, part of the
Telecommunications Act of 1996, the U.S. Supreme Court held ______.
a. the FCC may regulate the internet the same way it regulates broadcast
stations
b. Congress may never regulate the internet
c. the Communications Decency Act is constitutional
d. the First Amendment protects indecent material on the internet
12. What is pornography?
a. a narrow legal term referring to sexual expression and expletives inappropriate
for children on broadcast radio and television
b. a vague—not legally precise—term for sexually oriented material
c. material relating to sex in an indecent, very offensive or shocking way
Instructor Resource
Trager, The Law of Journalism and Mass Communication 6e
CQ Press, 2018
d. all of these
13. Which Supreme Court case includes the current legal test for obscenity?
a. Miller v. California
b. FCC v. Pacifica Foundation
c. Reno v. ACLU
d. Roth v. United States
14. According to the Supreme Court’s decision in Paroline v. United States,
which of the following is true (related to victims of child pornography)?
a. Victims can never recover damages from those who possess child
pornography.
b. A victim need to show only that he was harmed by the image being in
circulation and anyone found guilty of possessing that image may be liable for
damages.
c. A victim should only receive restitution in an amount that represents the extent
to which the defendant caused the victim’s losses.
d. none of these
15. Which of the following is a TRUE statement about broadcasting indecent
material?
a. Strictly speaking, broadcasting indecent material at any time violates federal
law.
b. The FCC, with court approval, agreed not to take action against indecent
broadcasts aired at times when few children are expected to be in the audience.
c. The 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. period is a safe harbor, a time when stations safely may
broadcast material that does not fully comply with the law’s indecency ban.
d. all of these
16. What is the focus of the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA), which the
Supreme Court has found constitutional?
a. This law focused on schools and libraries that receive federal money.
b. The CIPA would stop money from going to schools and libraries that do not
install “technology protection measures” on their computers accessing the
internet.
c. Those schools and libraries wanting to continue receiving federal funds would
have to install filtering software that blocks obscenity, child pornography, or
material “harmful to minors.”
d. all of these
1. The word “pornography” is not defined in the law except when used in the
phrase “child pornography.”
2. The First Amendment does not protect using indecent language in print, on the
internet or in broadcasting.
3. Anthony Comstock convinced the U.S. Congress to adopt a law making it
illegal to mail obscene materials.
4. Laws originally intended for use against organized crime can be used to seize
certain assets of people convicted of selling obscene material.
5. The courts’ rulings about broadcast indecency are an attempt to balance
broadcasters’ First Amendment rights and Congress’s decision that indecent
material cannot be on broadcast radio and television at any time.
6. Courts have held that the First Amendment protects violent content in the
mass media.
7. Courts have ruled that cities may not use zoning laws to restrict adult
bookstores and adult theaters to one area of the city.
8. A cable television network wants to run a prize-winning drama with adult
themes and explicit references to sexual matters (but not meeting the definition
of obscenity). To comply with the law, the station must run the play between 10
p.m. and 6 a.m.
9. On local cable television systems, indecent content is permitted between 10
p.m. and 6 a.m. only.
10. In addition to the federal law, all states and the District of Columbia have
child pornography laws.
11. Congress adopted the Child Pornography Prevention Act in 1996,
criminalizing the sending or possessing of digital images of children in sexual
poses or activities, even if the images were not of real children or were of adults
who looked young. The Supreme Court found the law unconstitutional because
children were not being involved in the sex trade.
12. U.S. law allows child pornography victims to seek restitution not only from the
person who created the images but also from those who possess the pictures.
13. Sexting that involves a minor, even if consensual, is considered child
pornography in some jurisdictions.
14. In the past, the Supreme Court has allowed government censorship boards
to license films for exhibition.
15. Authorities have tried to control obscenity using laws that target organized
crime.
16. Indecency is the same as obscenity.
17. The law forbids the FCC from censoring radio or television broadcasts.
Instructor Resource
Trager, The Law of Journalism and Mass Communication 6e
CQ Press, 2018
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Indecency
Difficulty Level: Easy
Essay
1. What are the three parts of the Miller v. California test for obscenity?
2. A book publisher decides to reprint a novel, The Genius, by Theodore Dreiser,
considered by many literary experts to be one of the leading writers of the early
20th century. A district attorney (running for reelection) prosecutes a local
bookstore owner under the state’s obscenity laws for selling a copy of the
reprinted novel. The basis of the prosecution is that the book contains the
following passage: “She accepted first the pressure of his arm, then the slow
gentleness with which he caressed her. Resistance seemed almost impossible
now, for he held her close—tight within the range of his magnetism. When finally
she felt the pressure of his hand upon her quivering limbs, she threw herself back
in a transport of agony and delight. ‘No, no, Eugene,’ she begged. ‘No, no! Save
me from myself. Oh, Eugene!’” A jury found the book obscene based on that
excerpt (the only part of the book to which the district attorney objected). Will that
conviction be upheld on appeal? Why or why not? Discuss the complete test a
court would apply.
3. In 2001, the FCC tried to clarify its indecency standards by adopting
guidelines. What were those guidelines?
4. Summarize the Supreme Court’s decision in FCC v. Fox Television Stations,
Inc. (2009).
5. Explain what the PROTECT Act is and why the Supreme Court found it
constitutional.
