Miller v. California established an obscenity standard. Which element is part of that test?

• A. It must be political content
• B. It must lack serious value in politics, art, or science
• C. It must be published in a newspaper
• D. It must involve religious themes

Answer: (B)

Obscenity is evaluated under Miller v. California’s three-part standard, and one essential element is that the work must lack serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value. This means that if the work has any serious value in those areas, it does not meet the obscenity criteria, even if other aspects might be provocative or risqué. The option that states it must lack serious value in politics, art, or science captures that exact criterion. The other choices aren’t part of Miller’s test: obscenity isn’t determined by merely having political content, being published in a newspaper, or including religious themes—the test focuses on the presence or absence of serious value in those domains, along with the other two prongs.