June 6, 1990 - Federal judge rules 2 Live Crew album 'obscene'
Federal Judge Joe Gonzalez ruled the rap group 2 Live Crew's raunchy album, As Nasty As They Wanna Be, was obscene, paving the way for prosecution of the artists and anyone caught selling the album.
The ruling touched off a fierce debate over what constitutes obscenity in popular music, and in fact whether a music album could be obscene.
In a 62-page ruling, Gonzalez said the album, featuring the track, Me So Horny, met the Supreme Court's 1973 criteria for obscenity, including that the average person would find that the work appealed top prurient interest, is patently offensive and lacks any serious artistic, political or scientific value. He stated the album contained violence, perversion, abuse of women, graphic depictions of all forms of sexual conduct, and microscopic descriptions of human genitalia.
Four days after Gonzalez' ruling, Broward County Sheriff Nick Navarro had the band members arrested after they performed songs from the album at a Hollywood, Fla., nightclub. They were acquitted following a jury trial in October, and the jury's foreman stated a tape of the performance wasn't clear enough for jurors to determine what happened. Besides, the foreman said, the album "was just not obscene."
Charles Freeman, a Fort Lauderdale record store owner, faced a year in jail after a jury found him guilty of promoting obscenity because he sold the album. He avoided a jail sentence but was fined $1,000 plus court costs.
In 1992, the federal Court of Appeal for the Eleventh District overturned Gonzalez' ruling that the album was obscene.
The ruling touched off a fierce debate over what constitutes obscenity in popular music, and in fact whether a music album could be obscene.
In a 62-page ruling, Gonzalez said the album, featuring the track, Me So Horny, met the Supreme Court's 1973 criteria for obscenity, including that the average person would find that the work appealed top prurient interest, is patently offensive and lacks any serious artistic, political or scientific value. He stated the album contained violence, perversion, abuse of women, graphic depictions of all forms of sexual conduct, and microscopic descriptions of human genitalia.
Four days after Gonzalez' ruling, Broward County Sheriff Nick Navarro had the band members arrested after they performed songs from the album at a Hollywood, Fla., nightclub. They were acquitted following a jury trial in October, and the jury's foreman stated a tape of the performance wasn't clear enough for jurors to determine what happened. Besides, the foreman said, the album "was just not obscene."
Charles Freeman, a Fort Lauderdale record store owner, faced a year in jail after a jury found him guilty of promoting obscenity because he sold the album. He avoided a jail sentence but was fined $1,000 plus court costs.
In 1992, the federal Court of Appeal for the Eleventh District overturned Gonzalez' ruling that the album was obscene.