Comstock Act of 1873

Comstock Act of 1873
Long title	Act for the Suppression of Trade in, and Circulation of, Obscene Literature and Articles of Immoral Use
Nicknames	Comstock Act of 1873
Enacted by	the 42nd United States Congress
Citations
Public law	42-258
Statutes at Large	ch. 258, 17 Stat. 598
Codification
Acts amended	Sec. 148 of an Act to revise, consolidate, and amend the Statutes relating to the Post-office Department
U.S.C. sections created	18 U.S.C. § 552, 18 U.S.C. § 1462, 19 U.S.C. § 1305, 39 U.S.C. § 3001(e)
U.S.C. sections amended	18 U.S.C. § 1461
Legislative history
	Introduced in the Senate as S. 1572 by William Windom (R‑MN) on February 11, 1873; Committee consideration by Committee of the Whole and the Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads; Passed the Senate on February 21, 1873 (unanimous consent); Passed the House on March 1, 1873 (without objection); Signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 3, 1873;
Major amendments
	Act of February 8, 1897, ch. 172, 29 Stat. 512; Criminal Code Act of 1909, ch. 321, 35 Stat. 1088, 1129; Tariff Act of 1930, Pub. L. 71–361, ch. 497, 46 Stat. 590; Postal Reorganization Act of 1970, Pub. L. 91-375, 84 Stat. 719; Contraception Mail Prohibition Removal Act of 1970, Pub. L. 91-662, 84 Stat. 1973; Child Protection and Obscenity Enforcement Act of 1988, Pub. L. 100–690, title VII, subtitle N, 102 Stat. 4500; Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, Pub. L. 103-322, 108 Stat. 1796; Communications Decency Act of 1996, Pub. L. 104-104, title V, 110 Stat. 56;
United States Supreme Court cases
	Ex parte Jackson, 96 U.S. 727 (1878); Grimm v. United States, 156 U.S. 604 (1895); Swearinger v. United States, 161 U.S. 446 (1896); Bartell v. United States, 227 U.S. 427 (1913); United States v. Limehouse, 285 U.S. 424 (1932); Roth v. United States, 354 U.S. 476 (1957); One, Inc. v. Olesen, 355 U.S. 371 (1958); Manual Enterprises, Inc. v. Day, 370 U.S. 478 (1962); Ginzburg v. United States, 383 U.S. 463(1966); Redmond v. United States, 384 U.S. 264 (1966); United States v. Reidel, 402 U.S. 351 (1971); United States v. Thirty-Seven Photographs, 402 U.S. 363 (1971); United States v. 12 200-ft. Reels of Film, 413 U.S. 123 (1973); United States v. Orito, 413 U.S. 139 (1973); Hamling v. United States, 418 U.S. 87 (1974); Marks v. United States, 430 U.S. 188 (1977); Smith v. United States, 431 U.S. 291 (1977); Ward v. Illinois, 431 U.S. 767 (1977); Pinkus v. United States, 436 U.S. 293 (1978); Bolger v. Youngs Drug Products Corp., 463 U.S. 60 (1983); Alexander v. United States, 509 U.S. 544 (1993);

The Comstock Act of 1873 is a series of current provisions in federal law that generally criminalize the involvement of the United States Postal Service, its officers, or a common carrier in conveying obscene matter, crime-inciting matter, or certain abortion-related matter. The Comstock Act is largely codified across title 18 of the United States Code and was enacted beginning in 1872 with the attachment of a rider to the Post Office Consolidation Act of 1872. Amended multiple times since initial enactment, most recently in 1996, the Act is nonetheless often associated with U.S. Postal Inspector and anti-vice activist Anthony Comstock.

The law was applied broadly for much of its history, before the scope of enforcement narrowed after various court rulings, and modern enforcement is primarily focused on prosecuting child pornography (with the most recent conviction under the Act being made in 2021).