18.2-372 - Obscene" defined. - Virginia Statutes

§ 18.2-372. "Obscene" defined.

The word "obscene" where it appears in this article shall mean that which,considered as a whole, has as its dominant theme or purpose an appeal to theprurient interest in sex, that is, a shameful or morbid interest in nudity,sexual conduct, sexual excitement, excretory functions or products thereof orsadomasochistic abuse, and which goes substantially beyond customary limitsof candor in description or representation of such matters and which, takenas a whole, does not have serious literary, artistic, political or scientificvalue.

(Code 1950, § 18.1-227; 1960, c. 233; 1975, cc. 14, 15.)