There has been much discussion about the legal meaning of the term obscene and its usage. Constitutionally, the term is used to define certain behaviors or expressions in cinema, art or literature. The law seeks to examine the effects that obscenity would have on people's morals or the minds of those who view the material. He also considered the effect some publications would have on the hands they might fall into. There has been an evolution of the whole idea over the years since its inception and the legalities behind it. The issue of obscenity was mostly associated with films and images. productions that produced materials accessible to the public. The United States Supreme Court has been at the forefront of handling the issue through the Supreme Court (Boyer, 2006, p.167). Free speech for films was first announced in 1952, when films would be entitled to protection through the First Constitutional Amendment in the United States. However the idea was contested by some institutions in 1954 on the issue of censorship. It was argued that the films had no substantiated constitutional protection. This is because films were nothing more than simple affairs and their content was developed on the need to compete through fun and entertainment (Wittern, 2008, p.99). Therefore films had to be censored to protect the public from obscenity. It became difficult to obtain restrictions from the judiciary that did not impose a charge on the issue of censorship. Obscenity was taking many forms in many things most people get their hands on, from books to magazines. As the world became more industrialized and globalization occurred, access to materials that were considered… half the paper… things continued to change. Obscenity is an issue that must be addressed now and in the future and this can only be done through the power of the highest court, the Supreme Court. Works Cited Slade, Joseph W. Pornography and Sexual Representation: A Reference Guide. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2001. Print.Boyer, Paul S. The Oxford Companion to United States History. Oxford: University of Oxford. Press, 2006. Internet Resource.Downs, Donald A. The New Politics of Pornography. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989. Print.Quinn, A J. Censorship of Obscenity: A Comparison of Canon Law and American Constitutional Law. Rome: Officium Libri Catholici--Catholic Book Agency, 1963. Print.Wittern-Keller, Laura. Freedom of the Screen: Legal Challenges to State Film Censorship, 1915-1981. Lexington, Ky: University Press of Kentucky, 2008. Internet resource.