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(1) General.
(a) No person shall, knowingly either sell, rent, distribute, exhibit, show, transmit, or offer either to sell, rent, distribute, exhibit, show or transmit, or have in his possession or under his control with intent either to sell, rent, distribute, exhibit, show or transmit to another, any obscene motion picture film or any obscene literature, book, magazine, pamphlet, newspaper, story book, paper, comic book, writing, drawing, photograph, figure, image, or any written or printed matter of an obscene nature or any device, article or instrument of an obscene nature.
(b) No person shall knowingly participate in, support or in any way aid or assist any person in selling, renting, distributing, or showing any obscene motion picture film, or any obscene literature, book, magazine, pamphlet, newspaper, story book, paper, comic book, writing, drawing, photograph, figure or image or any written or printed matter of an obscene nature or any device, article or instrument of an obscene nature.
(c) No person shall knowingly design, copy, draw, photograph, print, utter, publish or in any manner manufacture or prepare any obscene motion picture film, or any obscene book, picture, film, drawing, magazine, pamphlet, newspaper, story book, paper, comic book, writing, figure, image, matter, device, article, or instrument of an obscene nature.
(d) No person shall knowingly produce, present, or direct any obscene performance or participate in the portion thereof which is obscene.
(e) No person, being the owner of any premises or having control thereof, shall knowingly permit within or upon said premises the exhibition, projection or showing of any motion picture film, show, presentation or performance of an obscene nature, or permit anyone to sell, rent, distribute, exhibit, give away or show any obscene literature, book, magazine, pamphlet, newspaper, story book, paper, comic book, writing, drawing, photograph, figure or image, or any written or printed matter of an obscene nature.
(f) No person shall knowingly write, print, publish or utter, or cause to be printed, published or uttered, any advertisement or notice of any kind giving information directly or indirectly, stating or purporting to state where, how or whom or by what means, any obscene motion picture film, picture, book, writing, paper, comic book, figure, image, matter, article or thing of an obscene nature can be seen, purchased, obtained or had.
(2) Minors.
(a) No person, within the City of Philadelphia, shall display at newsstands or any other business establishment frequented by minors under the age of eighteen (18) years or where said minors are or may be invited as a part of the general public, or where they may view same, any material depicting the acts specified in subsections 10-1102(2)(a) through (g), male or female buttocks or genitals or the female breast below a point immediately above the top of the areola.
(b) In addition to any other violations or penalties prescribed herein, any person in the City of Philadelphia who has in his possession or under his control with intent to sell, rent, distribute, exhibit, show or transmit to another, any obscene motion picture film or any obscene literature, book, magazine, pamphlet, newspaper, story book, paper, comic book, writing, or any other written or printed matter containing photographs or photographic images depicting children under the age of seventeen years, participating, performing, or observing any of the acts defined in subsection 10-1102(2) shall be guilty of a summary offense and upon conviction thereof, shall be sentenced to pay a fine not exceeding three hundred dollars ($300) or undergo imprisonment for a period not exceeding ninety (90) days, or both, in addition to any other penalties imposed.
Any obscene literature or film displaying or presenting pictures, photographs, or photographic images depicting pre-pubescent children exhibiting underdeveloped genitalia or breasts, shall be a per se violation of the provisions of this Section without further proof of age.
(3) Massage Parlors and Model Studios.
(a) No person shall own, operate or maintain any massage parlor or model studio, which, as a regular course of business, is used for the purpose of lewdness, assignation or prostitution, and every such massage parlor or model studio in or upon which acts of lewdness, assignation or prostitution are held or occur, is declared to be a public nuisance.
(.1) Massage, as used in this subsection, shall mean any method of treating the superficial soft parts of the human body for remedial, hygienic or other purposes, consisting of rubbing, stroking, kneading, or any similar treatment, accomplished by hand, or by the use of any instrument.
(.2) Massage Parlor shall mean any building or structure or portion thereof, located within the City, which is open to members of the general public with or without the payment of a fee at which massage services are offered.
(.3) Model Studio means:
(.a) Any premises on which there is conducted the business of furnishing figure models who pose in the nude for the purpose of being observed or viewed by any person or of being sketched, painted, drawn, sculptured, photographed or otherwise similarly depicted for persons who pay a fee, or other consideration or compensation, or a gratuity, for the right or opportunity so to depict the figure model, or for admission to, or for permission to remain upon, or as a condition for remaining upon the premises; or
(.b) Any premises where there is conducted the business of furnishing or providing or procuring, for a fee or other consideration or compensation or gratuity, figure models who pose in the nude to be observed or viewed by any person or to be sketched, painted, drawn, sculptured, photographed or otherwise similarly depicted.
(.c) Exception. The words "model studio" do not include:
(i) Any studio which is operated by any college or junior college, public school, or any governmental agency wherein the person, firm, association, partnership, or corporation operating it has met the requirements of the State of Pennsylvania for the issuance or conferring of, and is in fact authorized thereunder to issue and confer, a diploma or honorary diploma; or
(ii) Any premises where there is conducted the business of furnishing, providing or procuring figure models solely for any studio described in subsection (i) of this subsection.
(iii) Any studio operated by a tax exempt, non-profit corporation devoted to the development of art and its appreciation.
(1) Upon observing or receiving notice of a potential violation of this Chapter the Police Department shall conduct an investigation to determine whether legal action shall be taken. If the Department determines that there is reason to believe that a violation of this Chapter has or is continuing to occur, the Department shall continue its investigation in order to provide a Municipal Court Judge with sufficient facts to establish probable cause that this Chapter has been violated and to enable the Judge to issue the appropriate process. The facts establishing probable cause shall be assembled according to the following procedure:
(a) Obscene Articles Available for Purchase. A police officer shall purchase the allegedly obscene articles, prepare a citation for each article purchased and present the article and the citation to a Municipal Court Judge, requesting the Judge to issue the appropriate process.
(b) Obscene Films. If an allegedly obscene film is not available for purchase, a police officer shall prepare a search warrant for the seizure of the film. After the search warrant has been issued the officer shall confiscate the film described in the search warrant, prepare a citation and present the film and the citation to a Municipal Court Judge, requesting the Judge to issue the appropriate process.
(.1) If the film seized is the only copy available, the officer shall request the Judge who issued the search warrant to allow the copying of the film. The original film shall be returned to the owner as soon as possible after review by the Municipal Court Judge and, after it has been copied pursuant to the Judge's authorization.
(c) Obscene Live Performances. An officer shall observe the allegedly obscene performance, prepare a citation and present the citation to a Municipal Court Judge, requesting the Judge to issue the appropriate process.
(1) In addition to any other penalties specifically provided, any person violating any provision of this Chapter shall be guilty of a summary offense, and upon conviction thereof shall be sentenced to pay a fine not exceeding three hundred dollars ($300).
(2) Repeat Offenders. Any person who commits, on more than one occasion, a violation of any provision of this Chapter, shall be guilty of a separate offense of Repeat Violation and for each such Repeat Violation, shall be subject to a fine of not more than three hundred dollars ($300), or imprisonment for not more than ninety (90) days, or both. A person shall be guilty of a Repeat Violation regardless whether the second or subsequent violation occurs before or after a judicial finding of a first or previous violation. Each violation, after the first, shall constitute a separate Repeat Violation offense.
Notes
| 332 | Amended, Bill No. 758 (approved July 24, 1995), 1995 Ordinances, p. 1081. |
(1) If any clause, sentence, paragraph or part of this Chapter, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance, shall for any reason be adjudged by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair or invalidate the remainder of this Chapter nor the application of such clause, sentence, paragraph or part to other persons or circumstances but shall be confined in its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph or part thereof and to the persons or circumstances directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment shall have been rendered. It is hereby declared to be the legislative intent that this Chapter would have been adopted had such provisions not been included or such persons or circumstances been expressly excluded from their coverage.