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Cal. Penal Code § 313

Harmful Matter

Applied in 7 court decisions — leading case 80 Cal. App. 4th 170 - Hatch v. Superior Court (2000)

Most recently applied in 216 Cal. App. 4th 1141 - In re Martinez (May 2013)

Amended by Stats. 1994, Ch. 1010, Sec. 190

How often courts cite this section

199520002010201310
citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

As used in this chapter:

(a) “Harmful matter” means matter, taken as a whole, which to the average person, applying contemporary statewide standards, appeals to the prurient interest, and is matter which, taken as a whole, depicts or describes in a patently offensive way sexual conduct and which, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors.

(1) When it appears from the nature of the matter or the circumstances of its dissemination, distribution or exhibition that it is designed for clearly defined deviant sexual groups, the appeal of the matter shall be judged with reference to its intended recipient group.

(2) In prosecutions under this chapter, where circumstances of production, presentation, sale, dissemination, distribution, or publicity indicate that matter is being commercially exploited by the defendant for the sake of its prurient appeal, that evidence is probative with respect to the nature of the matter and can justify the conclusion that the matter lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors.

(b) “Matter” means any book, magazine, newspaper, video recording, or other printed or written material or any picture, drawing, photograph, motion picture, or other pictorial representation or any statue or other figure, or any recording, transcription, or mechanical, chemical, or electrical reproduction or any other articles, equipment, machines, or materials. “Matter” also includes live or recorded telephone messages when transmitted, disseminated, or distributed as part of a commercial transaction.

(c) “Person” means any individual, partnership, firm, association, corporation, limited liability company, or other legal entity.

(d) “Distribute” means to transfer possession of, whether with or without consideration.

(e) “Knowingly” means being aware of the character of the matter.

(f) “Exhibit” means to show.

(g) “Minor” means any natural person under 18 years of age.

Official source: California Legislative Information. Reproduced from public-domain California statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.