Pennsylvania State Board of Censors


The Pennsylvania State Board of Censors was an organization under the Pennsylvania Department of Education responsible for approving, redacting, or banning motion pictures which it considered "sacrilegious, obscene, indecent, or immoral", or which might pervert morals.

Organization

The board was composed of three members, which were appointed by the Governor of Pennsylvania. Despite a censorship law passed in 1911, due to lack of funding it did not begin its activities until 1914.

Destruction

In 1956 the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania ruled the act which created and provided for the board was unconstitutional, with respect to the Pennsylvania Constitution, and so revoked the mandate for the board's existence. The Pennsylvania General Assembly reenacted the statute in 1959, but it was struck down again in 1961 by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.