[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Commissioners of the City of Margate City 3-11-1982 by Ord. No. 1982-4. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Dressing and undressing in public — See Ch. 208, Art. I.
The commercial distribution or commercial display of obscene materials or acts to anyone, including consenting adults, is hereby prohibited.
Obscene materials and acts are hereby defined as follows:
A. 
Films and moving pictures. A film or moving picture is obscene if, when considered as a whole, its calculated purpose or dominant effect is:
(1) 
To substantially arouse sexual desires, whether natural or unnatural, and if the probability of this effect is so great as to outweigh whatever other merits the film may possess.
(2) 
To portray acts of sexual immorality or lewdness as profitable, desirable, acceptable or proper behavior.
(3) 
To advocate the illegal use of narcotics or habit-forming drugs.
B. 
Photographs, paintings, illustrations. A photograph, painting or illustration is obscene if it portrays human sexual intercourse, homosexual acts, sadistic sexual acts, sexual acts between man and beast or human sexual organs. (Breasts shall not be considered sexual organs for the purpose of this subsection.) Notwithstanding the foregoing, a photograph, painting or illustration which portrays human sexual organs is not obscene if it is a part of a medical textbook; if it is a work of art, the original or a copy of which has been displayed by a museum receiving public funds or, if by a less-renowned artist, the subject of which is the human body as a whole without particular emphasis on its sexual parts and, if considered as a whole, its calculated purpose or dominant effect is not to substantially arouse sexual desires, whether natural or unnatural, so as to outweigh whatever other merits it may possess.
C. 
Books and magazines. A book or magazine containing photographs, paintings or illustrations of the type defined as obscene in Subsection B is obscene if, considered as a whole, its calculated purpose or dominant effect is substantially to arouse sexual desires, whether natural or unnatural, and if the probability of this effect is so great as to outweigh whatever other merits it may possess. A book or magazine containing no photographs, paintings or illustrations shall not be considered obscene for purposes of this chapter.
D. 
Objects. An object is obscene if it is by itself a recognizable reproduction of a sexual organ (including breasts) or if some part of it consists of a recognizable reproduction of sexual organs substantially exaggerated in size or appearance.
E. 
Acts. An act is obscene if it involves the naked display of sexual organs (including breasts) or if it is explicitly suggestive of sexual acts or if it involves sexual acts.
A. 
A "commercial distribution" is any transfer or possession, whether permanent or temporary, for any valuable consideration, whether the valuable consideration is paid by the recipient of the obscene material or by another. Where obscene material is transferred incident to another commercial transaction, it is a "commercial distribution," whether or not the parties state that the valuable consideration is paid in part for the obscene material.
B. 
A "commercial display" is the exhibition of material obscene to the senses of another person for valuable consideration, whether the valuable consideration is paid by the recipient of the exhibition or by another. Where obscene material is exhibited incident to another commercial transaction, it is a "commercial display," whether or not the parties state that the valuable consideration is paid in part for the obscene exhibit.
[1]
Editor’s Note: Former § 201-4, Review of films by Review Committee, was repealed 7-16-2015 by Ord. No. 10-2015.
[Amended 1-25-1988 by Ord. No. 1988-1]
Anyone having violated § 201-1 of this chapter shall be subject to imprisonment in the county jail for a period not exceeding 90 days or to a fine not exceeding $1,000, or both. Anyone having violated § 201-4 of this chapter, and the film or moving picture having been adjudged obscene in a court of law in the same or a separate proceeding, shall be subject to a separate penalty of imprisonment in the county jail for a period not exceeding 90 days or a fine not exceeding $1,000, or both. Each separate film, moving picture, photograph, painting, illustration, book, magazine, object or act (and each issue of them) which is commercially distributed or commercially displayed shall constitute a separate offense under this chapter. Each separate commercial distribution or commercial display, whether to different persons or the same persons, shall constitute a separate offense under this chapter.
Notwithstanding any other section, clause or provision of this chapter to the contrary, the definitions of "obscene" and "obscenity," for all purposes of interpretation and enforcement of this chapter, shall be construed in accordance with and in no event more strictly than the criteria set forth in N.J.S.A. 2C:34-2 et seq., as the same shall be from time to time amended or supplemented, as well as in accordance with and not more strictly than judicial interpretations thereof pursuant to the Constitutions of the United States and of the State of New Jersey finally concluded in courts of jurisdiction sufficient to render decisions on constitutional questions having general application.
Where necessary, this chapter shall be construed in a manner which will render it valid and constitutional. If for any reason any section or any part of a section or provision of this chapter shall be adjudged unconstitutional or invalid, said judgment shall not be held to affect any other sections or any other part of a section or provision of this chapter.