Abstract
Under a doctrine first established in Roth v. United States, obscenity is determined according to "contemporary community standards". Individuals who produce or distribute material that violates these standards can be arrested, deprived of their freedom, and permanently branded as criminals. Books can be banned. But these standards have never been explained. This paper sets forth a model of community standards grounded in social choice theory. It recognizes that the definition of a community standard is inherently normative. A set of desirable normative axioms are presented and defended. It is shown that community standards do not and cannot exist.
Keywords
OBSCENITY