Colorado Code § 18-7-103

Injunctions to restrain the promotion of obscene materials
Open in Lexace · Ask the AI about this section
(1) The
district courts of this state and the judges thereof shall have full power, authority, and
jurisdiction to enjoin the wholesale promotion, promotion, or display of obscene materials as
specified in this section and to issue all necessary and proper restraining orders, injunctions, and
writs and processes in connection therewith not inconsistent with this article.
(2) The district attorney of the county in which a person, firm, or corporation wholesale
promotes, promotes, or displays, or is about to wholesale promote, promote, or display, or has in
his, her, or its possession with intent to wholesale promote, promote, or display, or is about to
acquire possession with intent to wholesale promote, promote, or display any obscene material
may maintain an action for injunction against such person, firm, or corporation to prevent the
wholesale promotion, promotion, or display or further wholesale promotion, promotion, or
display of said material described or identified in said suit for injunction.
(3) This article shall not authorize the issuance of temporary restraining orders except
where exigent circumstances require the same. In matters of exigent circumstances, the
restraining order shall provide that the action must be commenced on the earliest possible date.
No temporary restraining order may be issued to restrain the continued exhibitions of a motion
picture being shown commercially before the public, notwithstanding the existence of exigent
circumstances.
(4) No temporary restraining order or temporary injunction may be issued except after
notice to the person, firm, or corporation sought to be enjoined and only after all parties have
been offered or afforded an opportunity to be heard. A person, firm, or corporation shall be
deemed to have been offered or afforded an opportunity to be heard if notice has been given and
he, she, or it fails to appear. At such hearing, evidence shall be presented and witnesses
examined.
(5) Before or after the commencement of the hearing on an application for a temporary
injunction, the court may, and on motion of the party sought to be restrained shall, order the trial
on the action on the merits to be advanced and consolidated with the hearing on the application.
Where such hearings are not so consolidated, and a temporary injunction or restraining order is
issued, the court shall hold a final hearing and a trial of the issues within one day after joinder of
issue, and a decision shall be rendered within two days of the conclusion of the trial. If a final
hearing is not held within one day after joinder of issue or a decision not rendered within two
days of the conclusion of the trial, the injunction shall be dissolved. No temporary injunction or
restraining order shall issue until after a showing of probable cause to believe that the material or
display is obscene and a showing of probable success on the merits. Any such temporary
injunction or restraining order shall provide that the defendant may not be punished for contempt
if the material is found not to be obscene after joinder of issue, final hearing, and trial.
(6) Nothing contained in this article shall prevent the court from issuing a temporary
restraining order forbidding the removing, destroying, deleting, splicing, or otherwise altering of
any motion picture alleged to be obscene.
(7) Any person, firm, or corporation sought to be permanently enjoined shall be entitled
to a full adversary trial of the issues within one day after the joinder of issue, and a decision shall
be rendered by the court within two days of the conclusion of the trial. If the defendant in any
suit for a permanent injunction filed under the terms of this article shall fail to answer or
otherwise join issue within the time required to file his, her, or its answer, the court, on motion
of the party applying for the injunction, shall enter a general denial for the defendant and set a
date for hearing on the question raised in the suit for injunction within fourteen days following
the entry of the general denial entered by the court. The court shall render its decision within two
days after the conclusion of the hearing.
(8) In the event that a final order or judgment of injunction is entered against the person,
firm, or corporation sought to be enjoined, such final order or judgment shall contain a provision
directing the person, firm, or corporation to surrender to the sheriff of the county in which the
action was brought any of the material described in subsection (2) of this section, and such
sheriff shall be directed to seize and destroy the same six months after the entry of the said final
order unless criminal proceedings or an indictment is brought before that time, in which event,
said material may be used as evidence in such criminal proceeding.
(9) In any action brought as herein provided, the district attorney shall not be required to
file any undertaking, bond, or security before the issuance of any injunction order provided for
above, shall not be liable for costs, and shall not be liable for damages sustained by reason of the
injunction order in cases where judgment is rendered in favor of the person, firm, or corporation
sought to be enjoined.
(10) Every person, firm, or corporation who wholesale promotes, promotes, displays, or
acquires possession with intent to wholesale promote, promote, or display any of the material
described in subsection (2) of this section, after the service upon him of a summons and
complaint in an action brought pursuant to this article, is chargeable with knowledge of the
contents.

‹ Prev All Colorado sections Next ›


Lexace provides legal information, not legal advice, and no attorney–client relationship is created. Statute text is provided for general information and may not reflect the most recent amendments; verify against the official state code.