Anthony Comstock would have detest life in the U.S. today , but this 19th hundred ethics crusader has become surprisingly influential in 21st 100 America . carry in 1844 , Comstock was a Civil War oldtimer , religious partisan and enthusiasticbook censor .
Anti-vice Crusader and Lawmaker
In 1873 , Comstock founded theNew York Society for the Suppression of Vice — a companionship whosecrestbore two images : a man in a top hat shoving another man into a jail prison cell , and perhaps the same gentleman’s gentleman thresh about a pile of books onto a pyre . That class Comstock also successfully lobby Congress to go past theComstock Act , a law prohibit the possession , sale , dispersion or posting of " obscene , lewd , lustful , indecent , cruddy or vile " materials , which could include things like pornographic books and photos , but also contraception . infraction of the Comstock Act was penal with fines and prison sentences .
After Comstock ’s anti - obscenity bill was signed , he was assigned as a special agent and inspector to the U.S. Postal Office , give him the power to enforce the police force . Under motor hotel order , Comstock confiscate and sting millions of books , newspaper , pamphlet , photographs and other print materials — many of them educational documents about then - taboo topics : intimate wellness , atheism , gayness , contraception , miscarriage and equivalence of the sexes .
Under the Comstock Act , the first violation imposes a five - year maximum prison sentence , while subsequent ones can wring up 10 old age . Over3,000 peoplewere arrest under the law , serving what added up to 600 years in prison . Comstock acted as personal and political nemesis to former libber likeEmma Goldmanand Planned Parenthood founderMargaret Sanger . He was even known to brag about the number of"libertines " he drove to suicide .
The Comstock Act Lives On
Although the Comstock Act lost a sight of its potency after its author ’s death in 1915 , it was actively apply until the 1930s . However , the Supreme Court did n’t say it unconstitutional for all Americans until1972 — a class before the legislation ’s 100th birthday .
The Comstock Act of 1873 is having a bit of a renaissance 150 age after its transit . The law of nature , thoughsterilized by Congressin the 1970s , was never formally repealed .
After the U.S. Supreme Court overruledRoe v. Wadein June 2022 , anti - abortion activists mould around for a piece of legislation that could criminalise the distribution of the abortion drugmifepristone .
The drug , presently used in more than one-half of the miscarriage in the U.S. , choke up a hormone that fertilized eggs need in orderliness to baffle to the uterine lining . What they find was a dormant tight-laced - era curiosity that was used multiplication ago to banish everything from porn tofine art .
While nobody has yet attempt to practice the Comstock Act as a mechanism for banning the interstate shipment of sexually explicit magazines and books or for blocking any of the erotica site on today ’s net , it has been revived by anti - abortion groups and United States Department of State looking to preclude the interstate despatch of mifepristone .
Comstock’s Brand New Fight
Yes , Anthony Comstock believably would have been very uncomfortable with the state of thing ( pun not intended ) here on Earth today , but he would definitely relish the way of life in which his passionateness undertaking has been reanimated , over a one C after his expiry .
Although the volte-face of Roe v. Wade ended the right hand to abortion for all Americans , the Supreme Court left the decision of whether to permit abortions to each state .
Texas , for instance , banned most abortion instantly after the Supreme Court ruling , but in other states both in - clinic and abortion by pill stay on totally legal . And though abortion clinic provide services in nearby New Mexico , anyone can order abortion pill through the post .
The Comstock Act containslanguageprohiniting the posting of " any article or thing project or intended for the bar of excogitation or procuring of an abortion , " and in February 2023 , 20 Republican lawmaker used the Act inletters write to CVS and Walgreens pharmacies , threatening them with sound military action if they begin distributing RU 486 . In April of 2023 , a territory court judge in Texasordered a cargo deck on federal approval of mifepristone , cite the Comstock Act in his legal opinion .
There ’s no telling whether the Comstock Act is strong enough to stand up to 21st- one C American government and only time will secernate what ultimate influence it will have . The Justice Departmentclarifiedin early January that the Comstock Act does not prohibit the posting of miscarriage pills " where the sender lacks the design that the recipient of the drug will use them unlawfully , " so the engagement will persist in in the courts .
