Federal Obscenity Laws Get a Language Cleanup: What Does Removing 'Indecent' Mean for the Law?

The proposed “Stop Comstock Act” isn’t just about big, sweeping changes; sometimes, policy is about cleaning out the dusty corners of the legal code. This section of the bill focuses almost entirely on scrubbing outdated and overly complex language from federal laws dealing with “obscene materials,” primarily in Title 18 of the U.S. Criminal Code and the Tariff Act of 1930.

The Great Legal Declutter: Removing 'Indecent' and 'Immoral'

If you’ve ever had to read federal code, you know it’s packed with historical baggage. This bill is taking a linguistic scalpel to it. Specifically, it removes the words “or indecent” wherever they appear in Section 552 of the Criminal Code and strips out phrases like “articles of indecent or immoral use or tendency.” Think of it like finally deleting that ancient, confusing software from your computer—it’s about simplifying the operating system.

In Section 1461, the bill streamlines a long, winding definition of prohibited material from “Every obscene, lewd, lascivious and all that follows...” down to the much cleaner “All obscene materials are declared.” Similarly, when dealing with imports under the Tariff Act of 1930, it strikes the vague and morally loaded phrase “or immoral and all that follows through unlawful abortion.” The intent here seems to be to modernize the language, focusing the statutes strictly on the legal definition of “obscene” and ditching the older, more subjective terms.

Technical Tweaks: What Changes for Commerce and Code?

Beyond the linguistic cleanup, the bill makes several technical adjustments that affect how these rules are applied. For those involved in e-commerce or digital platforms, Section 1462 gets a minor but important update, swapping out references to section 230(e)(2) with section 230(f)(2) everywhere it appears. This is an internal cross-reference fix, ensuring the statute points to the correct part of the law governing liability for online content.

Furthermore, the language governing the transportation of prohibited material is simplified. Instead of describing how things “may be obtained or made,” the law will now simply refer to “any obscene material” in the context of commerce. For the average person, these changes won't immediately alter daily life, but for lawyers, judges, and anyone dealing with customs or federal commerce regulations, it means clearer, less ambiguous statutory text. The goal isn't to change what is illegal, but to clean up how the law describes it, making the process less reliant on archaic or vague moralizing language.