Pursuant to the authority granted in the Second
Class Township Code to prohibit nuisances; to promote the health, cleanliness,
comfort and safety of the citizens of Chadds Ford Township and the
authority of political subdivisions of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
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 Pa.C.S.A. § 5903(k)
and as upheld by the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of Pennsylvania, in Brown v. Pornography Commission of Lower
Southampton Township, 620 F.Supp 1199 (1985), the Township of Chadds
Ford enacts the following article.
No person, knowing the obscene character of
the materials or performances involved, shall, within the Township
of Chadds Ford:
A. Display or cause or permit the display of any explicit sexual materials as defined in §
39-14A 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. 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
his 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. Design, copy, draw, photograph, print, utter, publish
or in any manner manufacture or prepare any obscene materials;
D. 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. Produce, present or direct any obscene performance
or participate in a portion thereof that is obscene or that contributes
to its obscenity; or
F. Hire, employ, use or permit any minor child to do
or assist in doing any act or thing mentioned in this section.
As used in this article, the following words
and phrases shall have the meanings given to them in this section:
COMMUNITY
For the purpose of applying the “contemporary community
standards” in this article, “community” means the
state.
KNOWING
As used in §
39-12, “knowing” means 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 violation of this article.
MATERIAL
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.
NUDE
The showing of the human male or female genitals, pubic area
or buttocks with less than a fully opaque covering, or showing the
female breast with less than a fully opaque covering of any portion
thereof below the top of the nipple.
OBSCENE
Any material or performance, if:
A.
The average person applying contemporary community
standards would find that the subject matter taken as a whole appeals
to the prurient interest;
B.
The subject matter depicts or describes, in
a patently offensive way, sexual conduct of a type described in this
article; and
C.
The subject matter, taken as a whole, lacks
serious literary, artistic, political, educational or scientific value.
PERFORMANCE
Any play, dance or other live exhibition performed before
an audience.
SADOMASOCHISTIC ABUSE
In a sexual context, flagellation or torture by or upon a
person who is nude or clad in undergarments, a mask or in a bizarre
costume, or the condition of being fettered, bound or otherwise physically
restrained on the part of one who is nude or so clothed.
SEXUAL CONDUCT
Patently offensive representations or descriptions of ultimate
sexual acts, normal or perverted, actual or simulated, including sexual
intercourse, anal or oral sodomy and sexual bestiality; and patently
offensive representations or descriptions of masturbation, excretory
functions, sadomasochistic abuse and lewd exhibitions of the genitals.
TRANSPORTATION FACILITY
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 aircraft, watercraft, railroad
cars, buses, and air, boat, railroad and bus terminals and stations.
No person shall knowingly require any distributor
or retail seller as a condition to sale or delivery for resale or
consignment of any literature, book, magazine, pamphlet, newspaper,
storypaper, paper, comic book, writing, drawing, photograph, video
tape, 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,
video tape, 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 article shall apply to any recognized
historical society or museum accorded charitable status by the federal
government, any county, city, borough, township or town library, 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 violates or permits a violation
of this article shall, upon conviction in a summary proceeding brought
before a Magisterial District Judge under the Pennsylvania Rules of
Criminal Procedure, be guilty of a summary offense and shall be punishable
by a fine of not more than $1,000, plus costs of prosecution. In default
of payment thereof, the defendant may be sentenced to imprisonment
for a term not exceeding 90 days. Each day or portion thereof that
such violation continues or is permitted to continue shall constitute
a separate offense, and each section of this article that is violated
shall also constitute a separate offense.