[HISTORY: Adopted by the Council of the Borough of Punxsutawney 8-9-2004
by Ord. No. 1046. Amendments noted where applicable.]
Pursuant to the authority granted in the Pennsylvania Municipal Code
to prohibit nuisances, to promote the health, cleanliness, comfort and safety
of the citizens of the Borough of Punxsutawney and the corresponding authority
to enact local ordinances, to regulate, inter alia, the sale, distribution,
display and exhibition of and activities concerning obscene and other sexual
material as provided for in 18 P.a.C.S.A. § 5903(k), as amended, and
as upheld by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of
Pennsylvania in the case of Gascoe, Ltd. v. Newtown Township, 699 F. Supp.
1092 (E.D. Pa, 1988), the Borough of Punxsutawney enacts the within chapter.
No person, knowing the obscene nature or content of the materials or
performances involved, shall:
A.Â
Display or cause or permit the display of any explicit sexual materials as defined in § 168-3 in or on any window, showcase, newsstand, display rack, billboard, display board, viewing screen, motion-picture screen, marquee or similar place in such manner that the display is visible from any public street, highway, sidewalk, transportation facility or other public thoroughfare, or in any business or commercial establishment where minors, as a part of the general public or otherwise, are or will probably be exposed to view all or any part of such materials;
B.Â
Sell, lend, distribute, exhibit, give away or show any
obscene materials to any person 18 years of age or older or offer to sell,
lend, distribute, exhibit or give away or show, or have in possession with
intent to sell, lend, distribute, exhibit or give away or show any obscene
materials to any person 18 years of age or older, or knowingly advertise any
obscene materials in any manner;
C.Â
Design, copy, draw, photograph, print, utter, publish
or in any manner manufacture or prepare any obscene materials;
D.Â
Write, print, publish, utter or cause to be written,
printed, published or uttered any advertisement or notice of any kind giving
information, directly or indirectly, stating or purporting to state where,
how, from whom, or by what means any obscene materials can be purchased, obtained
or had;
E.Â
Produce, present, or direct any obscene performance or
participate in a portion thereof that is obscene or that contributes to its
obscenity;
F.Â
Hire, employ, use or permit any minor child to do or
assist in doing any act or thing mentioned in this chapter;
G.Â
Knowingly disseminate by sale, loan, or otherwise, explicit
sexual materials to a minor; or
H.Â
Knowingly exhibit for monetary consideration to a minor
or knowingly sell to a minor an admission ticket or pass or knowingly admit
a minor for a monetary consideration to premises whereon there is exhibited
a motion-picture show or other presentation or performance which, in whole
or in part, depicts nudity, sexual conduct, or sadomasochistic abuse and which
is harmful to minors, except that the foregoing shall not apply to any minor
accompanied by his parent.
As used in this chapter, the following words and phrases shall have
the meanings given to them in this section.
For the purpose of applying the contemporary community standards
in this chapter, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Materials which are obscene;
Any picture, photograph, drawing, sculpture, motion-picture film, videotape
or similar visual representation or image of a person or portion of the human
body which depicts nudity, sexual conduct, or sadomasochistic abuse and which
is harmful to minors; or
Any book, pamphlet, magazine, printed matter, however reproduced, or sound recording which contains any matter enumerated in Subsection B, or explicit and detailed verbal descriptions or narrative accounts of sexual excitement, sexual conduct, or sadomasochistic abuse and which, taken as a whole, is harmful to minors.
That quality of any description or representation in whatever form,
of nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or sadomasochistic abuse, when
it:
Predominantly appeals to the prurient, shameful, or morbid interest
of minors;
Is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community
as a whole with respect to what is suitable materials for minors; and
Taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, educational
or scientific value for minors.
Having general knowledge of, or reason to know or a belief or ground
for belief which warrants further inspection or inquiry of the character and
content of any material or performance described therein which is reasonably
susceptible of examination by the person charged with a violation of this
chapter. Provided, however, that an honest mistake shall constitute a defense
if a reasonable attempt was made to ascertain the actual age of a minor.
Any literature, including any book, magazine, pamphlet, newspaper,
storypaper, bumper sticker, comic book or writing; any figure, visual representation,
or image, including any drawing, photograph, picture, videotape or motion
picture.
Any person under the age of 18 years.
The showing of the human male or female genitals, pubic area, or
buttocks with less than a fully opaque covering, or the showing of the female
breast with less than a fully opaque covering of any portion thereof below
the top of the nipple, or the depiction of covered male genitals in a discernibly
turgid state.
Any material or performance, if:
The average person applying contemporary community standards would find
that the subject matter taken as a whole appeals to the prurient interest;
The subject matter depicts or describes in a patently offensive way,
sexual conduct of a type described in this chapter; and
The matter, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political,
educational or scientific value.
Any play, dance or other live exhibition performed before an audience.
Patently offensive representations or descriptions of ultimate sexual
acts, sexual intercourse, normal or perverted, actual or simulated, including
sexual intercourse, anal or oral sodomy and sexual bestiality; or physical
contact with a person's clothed or unclothed genitals, pubic area, buttocks
or breast; and patently offensive representations or descriptions of masturbation,
excretory functions, sadomasochistic abuse and lewd exhibitions of the genitals.
The condition of human male or female genitals when in a state of
sexual stimulation or arousal.
Any conveyance, premises or place used for or in connection with
public passenger transportation, whether by air, rail, motor vehicle or any
other method, including, but not limited to, aircraft, watercraft, railroad
cars, buses, and air, boat, railroad and bus terminals and stations.
No person shall knowingly require as a condition of business dealings
any distributor or retail seller as a condition of sale or delivery for resale
or consignment any literature, book, magazine, pamphlet, newspaper, storypaper,
paper, comic book, writing, drawing, photograph, videotape,
figure or image, or any written or printed matter, or any article or instrument
to purchase or take by consignment for purposes of sale, resale, or distribution
any obscene literature, book, magazine, pamphlet, newspaper, storypaper, paper,
comic book, writing, drawing, photograph, videotape, figure or image, or any
written or printed matter of an obscene nature or any article or instrument
of an obscene nature.
Nothing in this chapter shall apply to any recognized historical society
or museum accorded charitable status by the United States, any public library,
any library of any school, college or university or any archive or library
under the supervision and control of the commonwealth or a political subdivision.
Any person who shall violate the provisions of this chapter shall, upon
summary conviction before any District Justice, pay a fine not to exceed $600
and costs of prosecution and may also be sentenced and committed to the Jefferson
County Jail for a period not exceeding 30 days. Each day an offense occurs
shall be treated as a separate violation.
