Runaway Grand Jury: Activists Attempt to Redefine Obscenity Law in Kansas
Jill Barton, 77 UMKC L. Rev. 249 (2008)
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Phillip Cosby has spent the last several years trying to redefine obscenity and the First Amendment in his conservative-leaning state. He believes pornography is a poison available at far too many establishments, including convenience stores, Halloween costume shops and video rental businesses, and that the accessibility of sexually explicit material has created a desensitized and even violent society. Cosby has waged anti-pornography campaigns in his home state of Kansas before, and his current job as the Executive Director of the Kansas City chapter of the National Coalition for the Protection of Children & Families has provided him additional resources and the backing of a well-known Christian advocacy group. Through a yearlong campaign that included 140 speeches at community organizations and churches, Cosby has won over thousands of Kansas residents as supporters for his anti-pornography cause
With his supporters’ help, Cosby successfully petitioned for grand jury investigations that indicted 20 business managers and owners across the state. He also called for criminal obscenity trials and new zoning laws that would eradicate communities of what he calls “SOBs” or “Sexually Oriented Businesses.” Although charges have been dropped against several business owners, Cosby hopes that the remaining charges will stand and that sexually oriented business owners across Kansas will face trial and leave the state. In the process, Cosby and his supporters hope that Kansas juries will redefine community standards along more conservative lines and set an example that will lead to the banning of pornography in the rest of the nation.
The biggest challenge for Cosby and his supporters is demonstrating that sexually explicit videotapes featuring girls who appear underage are legally obscene, despite the fact that the same material is widely available via the Internet, cable television, mail-order and other businesses. This note will examine the attempt in Kansas to redefine community standards and obscenity law, as set forth in U.S. Supreme Court jurisprudence. Section II outlines the history and development of obscenity law as it will apply to Kansas. Section III explains how anti-pornography advocates are using grand juries in their latest effort to shut down Kansas pornography businesses. Section IV shows how the community standards doctrine has evolved to gradually erase the distinction between conservative and liberal communities. This evolution demonstrates that the hallmark of the nation’s obscenity test-community standards-has become unnecessary as technology helps to create a more national culture. The change further shows an overriding national desire to protect personal privacy and First Amendment rights over any concerns for developing a more conservative local standard.
