Commonwealth v. Dane Entertainment Services, Inc.

1. Essential terms used in G. L. c. 272, § 31, as amended by St. 1977; c. 917, §§ 4-6 (“patently offensive,” “prurient interest,” and “contemporary standards of the Commonwealth”), are not inherently vague by reason of any increasing permissiveness which may exist in contemporary society. See Commonwealth v. United Books, Inc., 389 Mass. 888, 891-893 (1983); Commonwealth v. Dane Entertainment Serv., Inc., (No. 1), 389 Mass. 902, 904-906 (1983).

2. The validity of the rule that the Commonwealth need not introduce evidence on the elements of obscenity but instead may rely on the allegedly…