First, let's review what the Supreme Court has given as guidance for determining that some material is "obscene". We get our guidance from Miller v California and from Roth v United States. What it boils down to is that these three criteria must be met for some form of expression to be considered "obscenity" not protected by the First Amendment:

1. the average person, applying contemporary community standards (not national standards, as some prior tests required), must find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient [sexual] interest
2. the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct or excretory functions specifically defined by applicable state law; and
3. the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.
(See sources above.)

Police raided the Lynnhaven Mall Abercrombie and Fitch store, seized two murals and cited the store's manager on obscenity charges.

One of the murals depicts several shirtless young men from behind, with one of the young men exposing a small amount of his gluteal cleft (more commonly known as "butt-crack"). Has anyone ever been to Virginia and not seen butt-crack? The mural in question doesn't even come close to satisfying the requirements for 'obscenity'. While it's possible that the photo could be sexually appealing, the mural fails to satisfy prongs 2 and 3 of the three-prong test. All prongs must be satisfied for a work to be considered obscene, not just one of them.

The other mural is a photo of a bare-chested female who is partially covering her one exposed breast with her hand. Again, apply the test for yourself. Is a partially-exposed breast depicting, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct or excretory functions?

Police spokesman Adam Bernstein said, "We strive for voluntary compliance, but when they weren't taken down we had to issue a summons. This is [sic] steps our city takes, because we have a reputation of being a very family-friendly city." He added, "We're not the poster police. This is something that several citizens complained to the mall and to the officer about."

Sorry, Adam, but "several citizens complained" is not the standard by which we judge materials obscene in this country.

---Nick

UPDATE: Abercrombie and Fitch says they will aggressively pursue their legal rights in this case, saying "The marketing images in question show less skin than you see any summer day at the beach. And certainly less than the plumber working on your kitchen sink."

vote FOR this article vote AGAINST this article flag as spam/abuse
Log in if you are spatula for more options. 
Find similar articles