This Day in the Law
Share
March 3

Comstock Law Passed (1873)


On March 3, 1873, U.S. Congress passed the Comstock Law which made it illegal to send any "obscene, lewd, and/or lascivious" materials through the mail. This included contraceptive devices and educational material relating to contraception and abortion.

The Comstock Law was named after its chief proponent, Anthony Comstock. Comstock was an outspoken anti-obscenity crusader. In fact, in the early days of the Act, Comstock often enforced it personally.

The text of the law reads, in part:
Be it enacted... That whoever, within the District of Columbia or any of the Territories of the United States...shall sell...or shall offer to sell, or to lend, or to give away, or in any manner to exhibit, or shall otherwise publish or offer to publish in any manner, or shall have in his possession, for any such purpose or purposes, an obscene book, pamphlet, paper, writing, advertisement, circular, print, picture, drawing or other representation, figure, or image on or of paper or other material, or any cast instrument, or other article of an immoral nature, or any drug or medicine, or any article whatever, for the prevention of conception, or for causing unlawful abortion, or shall advertise the same for sale, or shall write or print, or cause to be written or printed, any card, circular, book, pamphlet, advertisement, or notice of any kind, stating when, where, how, or of whom, or by what means, any of the articles in this section…can be purchased or obtained, or shall manufacture, draw, or print, or in any wise make any of such articles, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof in any court of the United States...
The punishment for violation of the Comstock Law was six months to five years in prison, or a fine of $100 to $2000 dollars.

The problem with the law was the broad definition of obscene material. The Comstock law was tested several times after its inception on March 3, 1873, and over time the definition of obscene material was redefined multiple times.

In 1936, the portion of the bill that bans the sale or advertisement of contraceptives was determined to be unconstitutional and was overturned. However, the rest of the bill is still in effect today.