Roth v. United States
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Roth v. United States | |
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Argued April 22, 1957 Decided June 24, 1957 | |
Full case name | Samuel Roth v. United States; David S. Alberts v. California |
Citations | 354 U.S. 476 (more) 77 S. Ct. 1304; 1 L. Ed. 2d 1498; 1957 U.S. LEXIS 587; 14 Ohio Op. 2d 331; 1 Media L. Rep. 1375 |
Case history | |
Prior |
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Holding | |
Obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment; more strictly defined "obscene." | |
Court membership | |
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Case opinions | |
Majority | Brennan, joined by Frankfurter, Burton, Clark, Whittaker |
Concurrence | Warren (in the judgment of the court only) |
Dissent | Harlan |
Dissent | Douglas, joined by Black |
Superseded by | |
Miller v. California, 413 U.S. 15 (1973) |
Roth v. United States, 354 U.S. 476 (1957), along with its companion case Alberts v. California, was a
The decision was superseded by Miller v. California which removed the "utterly without redeeming social value" test, and replaced it with without "serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value". In that case, Justice Brennan dissented, repudiating his previous position in Roth, arguing that states could not ban the sale, advertisement, or distribution of obscene materials to consenting adults.[4]
Prior history
Under the
Samuel Roth, who ran an adult book-selling business in New York City, was convicted under a federal statute criminalizing the sending of "obscene, lewd, lascivious or filthy" materials through the mail for advertising and selling a publication called American Aphrodite ("A Quarterly for the Fancy-Free") containing literary erotica and nude photography. David Alberts, who ran a mail-order business from Los Angeles, was convicted under a California statute for selling lewd and obscene books.[5] The Court granted certiorari and affirmed both convictions.
Ruling
Roth came down as a 6–3 decision, with the opinion of the Court authored by William J. Brennan Jr. The Court repudiated the Hicklin test and defined obscenity more strictly, as material whose "dominant theme taken as a whole appeals to the prurient interest" of the "average person, applying contemporary community standards." Only material meeting this test could be banned as "obscene." However, Brennan reaffirmed that obscenity was not protected by the First Amendment and thus upheld the convictions of Roth and Alberts for publishing and sending obscene material through the mail.
Congress could ban material, "utterly without redeeming social importance," or in other words, "whether to the average person, applying contemporary community standards, the dominant theme of the material taken as a whole appeals to the prurient interest."
Chief Justice Earl Warren worried that "broad language used here may eventually be applied to the arts and sciences and freedom of communication generally," but, agreeing that obscenity is not constitutionally protected, concurred only in the judgment.
Justices Hugo Black and William O. Douglas, First Amendment "literalists," dissented in Roth, arguing vigorously that the First Amendment protected obscene material.
Justice John Marshall Harlan II dissented in Roth, involving a federal statute, but concurred in Alberts, involving a state law, on the grounds that while states had broad power to prosecute obscenity, the federal government did not.
Legacy
In Memoirs v. Massachusetts (1966),[6] a plurality of the Court further redefined the Roth test by holding unprotected only that which is "patently offensive" and "utterly without redeeming social value," but no opinion in that case could command a majority of the Court either[clarification needed], and the state of the law in the obscenity field remained confused.
Pornography and sexually oriented publications proliferated as a result of the
In Miller v. California (1973), a five-person majority agreed for the first time since Roth as to a test for determining constitutionally unprotected obscenity, thereby superseding the Roth test. By the time Miller was considered in 1973, Justice Brennan had abandoned the Roth test and argued that "no formulation of this Court, the Congress, or the States can adequately distinguish obscene material unprotected by the First Amendment from protected expression."[7]
See also
- List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 354
- Freedom of speech
- United States Bill of Rights
- United States Constitution
- One, Inc. v. Olesen, 355 U.S. 371 (1958), an application of the Roth standard.
- Censorship
References
- ^ Roth v. United States, 354 U.S. 476 (1957).
- ^ Pacelle, Richard Jr. "Roth v. United States". First Amendment Encyclopedia. University of Minnesota. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
- ^ Pacelle, Richard Jr. "Roth v. United States". First Amendment Encyclopedia. University of Minnesota. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
- ^ "Miller v. California". Justia. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
- ^ "Roth v. United States." Oyez, Accessed 6 May. 2021.
- ^ Memoirs v. Massachusetts, 383 U.S. 413 (1966).
- ^ Miller v. California, 413 U.S. 15 (1973).
External links
- Text of Roth v. United States, 354 U.S. 476 (1957) is available from: Cornell CourtListener Google Scholar Justia Library of Congress Oyez (oral argument audio)
- Summary of background and decision Archived 2009-02-06 at the Wayback Machine