Santorum: 'Court has gotten it wrong' that pornography is free speech

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum said Tuesday that he was a "big believer" in free speech, but the "court has gotten it wrong" on pornography.

At a town hall-style campaign event in Belle Plaine, Iowa, a woman asked the Pennsylvania Republican what he would do about the Occupy Wall Street protests as president.

"In all due respect, nothing because that's not really the role of the president," Santorum replied. "This is a First Amendment right, but a First Amendment right isn't an absolute right."

He added: "I'm a big believer in the First Amendment. I think the court has gotten it wrong on some cases, particularly with respect to pornography and their rulings on that."

"But with respect to the Occupy Wall Street people, they have the right to protest. But they don't have the right to take over a community and terrorize it."

In their 1969 Stanley v. Georgia ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated all state laws that prevented the private possession of "obscene" materials.

However, the court ruled in 1973 that obscene material was not protected by the First Amendment if it appealed "to a prurient interest," showed "patently offensive sexual conduct, and "lacked serious artistic, literary, political, or scientific value."

Watch this video from CNN, broadcast Dec. 13, 2011.