Pennsylvania Statutes

§ 5903 — Obscene and other sexual materials and performances

Pennsylvania § 5903
JurisdictionPennsylvania
Title 18CRIMES AND OFFENSES
PartPART II
Ch. 59PUBLIC INDECENCY

This text of Pennsylvania § 5903 (Obscene and other sexual materials and performances) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
18 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 5903 (2026).

Text

(a)Offenses defined.--No person, knowing the obscene character of the materials or performances involved, shall:
(1)display or cause or permit the display of any explicit sexual materials as defined in subsection (c) in or on any window, showcase, newsstand, display rack, billboard, display board, viewing screen, motion picture screen, marquee or similar place in such manner that the display is visible from any public street, highway, sidewalk, transportation facility or other public thoroughfare, or in any business or commercial establishment where minors, as a part of the general public or otherwise, are or will probably be exposed to view all or any part of such materials;
(2)sell, lend, distribute, transmit, exhibit, give away or show any obscene materials to any person 18 years o

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Legislative History

(Nov. 5, 1977, P.L.221, No.68, eff. 60 days; Oct. 16, 1980, P.L.978, No.167, eff. 60 days; Dec. 19, 1990, P.L.1332, No.207, eff. imd.; June 18, 1998, P.L.534, No.76, eff. 60 days; June 13, 2000, P.L.130, No.25, eff. 60 days; Dec. 20, 2000, P.L.721, No.98, eff. imd.; Dec. 20, 2011, P.L.446, No.111, eff. 60 days; July 11, 2022, P.L.761, No.73, eff. 60 days) 2022 Amendment.Act 73 amended subsec. (e)(3). 2011 Amendment.Act 111 amended subsecs. (a)(3), (4) and (5) and (b) and deleted the def. of "minor" in subsec. (e)(1). 2000 Amendments.Act 25 amended subsecs. (a), (b) and (h)(1) and added subsecs. (a.1), (l) and (m) and Act 98 amended subsec. (h)(2). See the preamble to Acts 25 and 98 in the appendix to this title for special provisions relating to legislative findings and declarations. Section 3(1) of Act 98 provided that the amendment of section 5903 shall apply to offenses committed on or after the effective date of Act 98. Cross References.Section 5903 is referred to in sections 3131, 3133, 5708, 6318, 9122 of this title; section 4102 of Title 12 (Commerce and Trade); sections 5329, 6344 of Title 23 (Domestic Relations); section 9331 of Title 24 (Education); sections 9718.1, 9799.14, 9799.55 of Title 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure); section 2303 of Title 44 (Law and Justice); section 7122 of Title 61 (Prisons and Parole); section 3113 of Title 63 (Professions and Occupations (State Licensed)); section 2905 of Title 66 (Public Utilities).

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Pennsylvania § 5903, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/statute/pa/18/5903.