Law Commons^™

No Harm, No Foul: Pornography (Violent And Otherwise), Victoria M. Mather

Faculty Articles

At the heart of the entire pornography debate is the lack of understanding or agreement of what is regulated. Society does not agree about what pornography means, what is hardcore or softcore, what is obscene, or what is "adult." The disagreement tends to derive from two very different viewpoints—the liberal view, and the feminist view. On the liberal side of the debate, pornography should be protected speech but on the feminist side, society should take into account the feminist perspective and the harmful effects of these graphic depictions.

Applying the Miller-Roth test, liberals believe that pornography is protected speech until …

A Scary Tale: Battered Women Who Kill Their Abusers, Victoria M. Mather

Faculty Articles

In recent years there has been a lot of attention focused on the specific issue of the battered women, and the battered women who eventually fight violence with violence. This is with good reason, since it is a widespread and serious problem for modern society. The authors whose works are discussed here struggle with notions of male dominance, experiment with legal tests, and manipulate the instruments of law enforcement in an attempt to figure out exactly what to do with, and for, these people in abusive relationships. However, as the authors themselves indicate, the problem is much deeper in modern …