Film censorship in the United States
Film censorship in the United States was a frequent feature of the industry almost from the beginning of the U.S. motion picture industry until the end of strong self-regulation in 1966. Court rulings in the 1950s and 1960s severely constrained government censorship, though statewide regulation lasted until at least the 1980s. State and local censorship, from pre-code to post-code Complaints from government authorities about film content date back at least as far as what was probably the first appearance of a woman in a motion picture in the United States, resulting in local self-censorship of the 1894 silent film Carmencita. Laws authorizing censorship of film in the United States began with an 1897 Maine statute prohibiting the exhibition of prizefight films; the state enacted the statute to prevent the exhibition of the 1897 heavyweight championship between James J. Corbett and Bob Fitzsimmons. Other states followed Maine's example. Chicago enacted the first censorship ordinance in the United States in 1907, authorizing its police chief to screen all films to determine whether they should be permitted on screens. Detroit followed with its own ordinance the same year. When upheld in a court challenge in 1909, other cities followed and Pennsylvania became the