2006 Ohio Revised Code - 2907.32. Pandering obscenity.

§ 2907.32. Pandering obscenity.
 

(A)  No person, with knowledge of the character of the material or performance involved, shall do any of the following: 

(1) Create, reproduce, or publish any obscene material, when the offender knows that the material is to be used for commercial exploitation or will be publicly disseminated or displayed, or when the offender is reckless in that regard; 

(2) Promote or advertise for sale, delivery, or dissemination; sell, deliver, publicly disseminate, publicly display, exhibit, present, rent, or provide; or offer or agree to sell, deliver, publicly disseminate, publicly display, exhibit, present, rent, or provide, any obscene material; 

(3) Create, direct, or produce an obscene performance, when the offender knows that it is to be used for commercial exploitation or will be publicly presented, or when the offender is reckless in that regard; 

(4) Advertise or promote an obscene performance for presentation, or present or participate in presenting an obscene performance, when the performance is presented publicly, or when admission is charged; 

(5) Buy, procure, possess, or control any obscene material with purpose to violate division (A)(2) or (4) of this section. 

(B)  It is an affirmative defense to a charge under this section, that the material or performance involved was disseminated or presented for a bona fide medical, scientific, educational, religious, governmental, judicial, or other proper purpose, by or to a physician, psychologist, sociologist, scientist, teacher, person pursuing bona fide studies or research, librarian, clergyman, prosecutor, judge, or other person having a proper interest in the material or performance. 

(C)  Whoever violates this section is guilty of pandering obscenity, a felony of the fifth degree. If the offender previously has been convicted of a violation of this section or of section 2907.31 of the Revised Code, then pandering obscenity is a felony of the fourth degree. 
 

HISTORY: 134 v H 511 (Eff 1-1-74); 142 v H 51 (Eff 3-17-89); 146 v S 2. Eff 7-1-96.
 

Not analogous to former RC § 2907.32 (RS § 6860; S&C 351; 56 v 79; 90 v 232; GC § 12452; Bureau of Code Revision, 10-1-53), repealed 134 v H 511, § 2, eff 1-1-74.

Analogous to former RC § 2905.35 (133 v H 84), repealed 134 v H 511, § 2, eff 1-1-74.

The effective date is set by section 6 of SB 2. 

 

19xx Committee Report or Comment.

1974 Committee Comment to H 511

This section retains a basic obscenity offense designed in part to take advantage of the rule in Ginzburg v. United States, 383 U.S. 463, 16 L.Ed. 2d 31, 86 S.Ct. 942 (1966), which holds that when highly erotic material cannot be termed obscene on its face, the fact that its salacious qualities were deliberately exploited is evidence that it is obscene. 

This section in essence prohibits commercial exploitation or public dissemination of obscene matter, and proof of either rests primarily on objective evidence of specific facts. The same evidence, moreover, can be determinative of the question of obscenity in close cases, through application of the Ginzburg rule, thus alleviating some of the practical difficulties in determining whether matter which borders on the obscene is indeed obscene. 

The section defines an affirmative defense which recognizes that obscene matter can legitimately be sold or circulated for medical, scientific, educational, and other proper purposes. 

Pandering obscenity is a misdemeanor of the first degree. If the offender has previously been convicted of an offense under this section or under section 2907.31 (Disseminating matter harmful to juveniles), the offense is a felony of the fourth degree.