ABSTRACT
The First Amendment protects freedom of thought and freedom to engage in the most prurient, offensive, and depraved fantasies (Stanley v. Georgia, 1969; Wooley v. Maynard, 1977). The government has no right to protect adults’ minds from the effect of obscenity. In Stanley v. Georgia (1969), the government argued the traditional and persistent argument that viewing obscenity may lead to sexual deviance, antisocial conduct, and sexual violence. The Court held that viewing obscenity in private and indulging in thoughts or ideas, no matter how aberrant, is a right enjoyed by free people in the United States. Education and punishment are means at the government’s disposal for controlling crime. Government-sponsored thought control to suppress emotional and intellectual needs is an inappropriate method for deterring deviant behavior. The Court in Stanley held that the government would not achieve its aim of controlling crime or antisocial behavior by banning fantasies. Proscribing possession of obscenity to control sex crimes would be like controlling books about vegetables because people could use them to produce moonshine.
