People v. Bailey

The defendants in these consolidated cases were charged separately by complaint or amended complaint with the offense of obscenity in violation of section 11 — 20(a)(1) of the Criminal Code of 1961 (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1981, ch. 38, par. 11 — 20(a)(1)). The trial court, relying upon People v. Ridens (1974), 59 Ill. 2d 362, cert, denied (1975), 421 U.S. 993, 44 L. Ed. 2d 483, 95 S. Ct. 2000, found the complaints to be insufficient because they did not include the third definitional element of the offense of obscenity, namely that the materials were “utterly without redeeming social value.” The…