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Page Number: 6.0

2 

UNITED STATES v. STEVENS 

Opinion of the Court 

“in  which  a  living  animal  is  intentionally  maimed,  muti-
lated,  tortured,  wounded,  or  killed,”  if  that  conduct  vio-
lates  federal  or  state  law  where  “the  creation,  sale,  or 
possession  takes  place.”    §48(c)(1).    In  what  is  referred  to 
as  the  “exceptions  clause,”  the  law  exempts  from  prohibi-
tion  any  depiction  “that  has  serious  religious,  political,
scientific,  educational,  journalistic,  historical,  or  artistic
value.”  §48(b).

The  legislative  background  of  §48  focused  primarily  on
the interstate market for “crush videos.”  According to the
House  Committee  Report  on  the  bill,  such  videos  feature 
the  intentional  torture  and  killing  of  helpless  animals, 
including cats, dogs, monkeys, mice, and hamsters.  H. R. 
Rep.  No.  106–397,  p.  2  (1999)  (hereinafter  H.  R.  Rep.).
Crush videos often depict women slowly crushing animals
to death “with their bare feet or while wearing high heeled 
shoes,” sometimes while “talking to the animals in a kind 
of  dominatrix  patter”  over  “[t]he  cries  and  squeals  of  the
animals, obviously in great pain.”  Ibid.  Apparently these 
depictions  “appeal  to  persons  with  a  very  specific  sexual 

—————— 

years, or both. 

  “(b)

 EXCEPTION.—Subsection  (a)  does  not  apply  to  any  depiction
that has serious religious, political, scientific, educational, journalistic, 
historical, or artistic value. 

  “(c)

 DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

  “(1)  the  term  ‘depiction  of  animal  cruelty’  means  any  visual  or
auditory  depiction,  including  any  photograph,  motion-picture  film, 
video  recording,  electronic  image,  or  sound  recording  of  conduct  in
which  a  living  animal  is  intentionally  maimed,  mutilated,  tortured,
wounded,  or  killed,  if  such  conduct  is  illegal  under  Federal  law  or  the 
law  of  the  State  in  which  the  creation,  sale,  or  possession  takes  place,
regardless  of  whether  the  maiming,  mutilation,  torture,  wounding,  or
killing took place in the State; and 

“(2)  the  term  ‘State’  means  each  of  the  several  States,  the  Dis-
trict  of  Columbia,  the  Commonwealth  of  Puerto  Rico,  the  Virgin  Is-
lands,  Guam,  American  Samoa,  the  Commonwealth  of  the  Northern 
Mariana Islands, and any other commonwealth, territory, or possession
of the United States.”