[Adopted 10-14-1999 by Ord. No. 1999-9]
Pursuant to the authority granted in the Second
Class Township Code to prohibit nuisances and to promote the health,
cleanliness, comfort and safety of the citizens of Caln Township and
the Authority of political subdivisions of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
to enact local ordinances to regulate, inter alia, the sale, distribution,
display and exhibition of and activities concerning obscene and other
sexual material as provided for in 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 5903(k)
and as upheld by the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of Pennsylvania, in Brown v. Pornography Commission of Lower
Southampton Township, 620 F.Supp 1199 (E.D. Pa. 1985), the Township
of Caln enacts the following article.
Terms used within this article shall have the
meanings as defined in 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 5903(b) and (e) entitled
"Obscene and other sexual materials and performances." The text of
18 Pa.C.S.A. § 5903 is appended hereto as Appendix A and
is incorporated herein by reference thereto.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Appendix A is located at the
end of this chapter.
A.
No person, knowing the obscene character of the materials
or performances involved, shall, within the Township of Caln:
(1)
Display or cause or permit the display of any explicit sexual materials as defined in Subsection B of this § 51-6 in or on any window, showcase, newsstand, display rack, billboard, display board, monitor, viewing screen, motion-picture screen, marquee or similar place in such manner that the display is visible from any public street, highway, sidewalk, transportation facility or other public thoroughfare or in any business or commercial establishment where minors, as a part of the general public or otherwise, are or will probably be exposed to view all or any part of such materials;
(2)
Sell, lend, distribute, exhibit, give away or show
any obscene materials or offer to sell, lend, distribute, exhibit
or give away or show, or have in his possession with intent to sell,
lend, distribute, exhibit or give away or show any obscene materials
to any person, or knowingly advertise any obscene materials in any
manner;
(3)
Design, copy, draw, photograph, print, utter, publish
or in any manner manufacture or prepare any obscene materials; the
terms "publish" and "publication" in the context of this article shall
include but shall not be limited to the various methods by which graphic,
textual, audio and/or video information is made the subject of information
communication and/or retrieval over a network of computers, including
the international network of interconnected computers, known as the
"Internet." Such methods include but are not limited to electronic
mail, automatic mailing list services, newsgroups, chat rooms and
the creation of or the posting of information to sites on the World
Wide Web; so long as the act of publication, communication or information
retrieval takes place by means of a computer physically located in
Caln Township;
(4)
Write, print, publish, utter or cause to be written,
printed, published or uttered any advertisement or notice of any kind
giving information, directly or indirectly, stating or purporting
to state where, how, from whom or by what means any obscene materials
can be purchased, obtained or had;
(5)
Produce, present or direct any obscene performance
or participate in a portion thereof that is obscene or that contributes
to its obscenity; or
(6)
Hire, employ, use or permit any minor child to do
or assist in doing any act or thing mentioned in this subsection.
B.
Dissemination to minors. No person shall knowingly
disseminate by sale, loan or otherwise explicit sexual materials to
a minor. "Explicit sexual materials," as used in this subsection,
means materials which are obscene or:
(1)
Any picture, photograph, drawing, sculpture, motion-picture
file, video tape or similar visual representation or image of a person
or portion of the human body which depicts nudity, sexual conduct
or sadomasochistic abuse and which is harmful to minors: or
(2)
Any book, pamphlet, magazine, printed matter however reproduced or sound recording which contains any matter enumerated in Subsection B(1) or explicit and detailed verbal descriptions or narrative accounts of sexual excitement, sexual conduct or sadomasochistic abuse and which, taken as a whole, is harmful to minors.
C.
Admitting minor to show. It shall be unlawful for
any person knowingly to exhibit for monetary consideration to a minor
or knowingly to sell to a minor an admission ticket or pass or knowingly
to admit a minor to premises whereon there is exhibited a motion-picture
show or other presentation or performance which, in whole or in part,
depicts nudity, sexual conduct or sadomasochistic abuse and which
is harmful to minors.
D.
HARMFUL TO MINORS
(1)
(2)
(3)
KNOWINGLY
(1)
(2)
MINORS
SEXUAL EXCITEMENT
Definitions. As used in Subsections B and C of this section, the following words shall have the following meanings:
That quality of any description or representation in whatever
form of nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement or sadomasochistic
abuse when it:
Predominantly appeals to the prurient, shameful
or morbid interest of minors;
Is patently offensive to prevailing standards
in the adult community as a whole with respect to what is suitable
materials for minors; and
Taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic,
political, educational or scientific value for minors.
Having general knowledge of, or reason to know, or a belief
or ground for belief which warrants further inspection or inquiry
of both:
The character and content of any material or
performance described herein which is reasonably susceptible of examination
by the person charged with violation of this article; and
The age of the minor or the fact that minors
are among those likely to view or receive the obscene materials; provided,
however, that an honest mistake shall constitute an excuse from liability
hereunder if the person charged with violation of this article made
a reasonable bona fide attempt to ascertain the true age of such minor
or to prevent minors from inclusion among those likely to view or
receive the obscene materials.
Any person under the age of 18 years.
The condition of human male or female genitals when in a
state of sexual stimulation or arousal.
E.
Requiring sale as a condition of business dealings.
No person shall knowingly require any distributor or retail seller
as a condition to sale or delivery for resale or consignment of any
literature, book, magazine, pamphlet, newspaper, storypaper, paper,
comic book, writing, drawing, photograph, videotape, compact disk,
figure or image, or any written or printed matter, or any article
or instrument to purchase or take by consignment for purposes of sale,
resale or distribution any obscene literature, book, magazine, pamphlet,
newspaper, storypaper, paper, comic book, writing, drawing, photograph,
videotape, figure or image, or any written or printed matter of an
obscene nature or any article or instrument of an obscene nature.
Nothing in this article shall apply to any recognized
historical society or museum accorded charitable status by the federal
government, any county, city, borough, township or town library, any
public library, any library of any school, college or university or
any archive or library under the supervision and control of the commonwealth
or a political subdivision.
Any person who shall violate the provisions
of this article shall, upon summary conviction before any District
Justice, pay a fine not to exceed $1,000 and costs of prosecution.
Upon judgment against any person by summary conviction, or by proceedings
by summons on default of the payment of the fine or penalty imposed
and the costs, the person who shall have violated this article may
be sentenced and committed to the county jail for a period not exceeding
30 days.