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Keywords

First Amendment, protected speech, free speech, speech, feminism, pornography, sex discrimination, subordination, women, civil rights

Abstract

The author of this student note examines a recent Minneapolis city ordinance that declares pornography to be both subordination of and a form of sex discrimination towards women. First Amendment proponents challenged the ordinance as unconstitutional. The author considers whether the state has a compelling interest in protecting its citizens from civil rights violations, and whether that interest can overcome first amendment rights. The author concludes that pornography is neither a civil rights violation, nor a category of unprotected speech.

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