Basically Law

Read the opinion here.

Issue.  Is obscenity protected under the First Amendment right to freedom of speech/expression?  And, what is obscene?

Background.  These two consolidated cases involve convictions for making, keeping, or selling obscene materials.  Those convicted appealed and claimed that the laws violated their First Amendment rights.  The Supreme Court refused to invalidate the laws outright; but, instead, created a standard for which obscenity could be judged.

Court's Analysis.  The Court was clear that obscenity is not protected under the First Amendment.  Obscenity lacks any redeeming social importance which is demonstrated by the fact that every state and the federal government had laws regulating obscene materials.

The Court turned to the question of what is obscene.  Obscene cannot mean just sex.  Obscene is dealing with sex in a manner that appeals to prurient interests.  Prurient interests are those having a tendency to excite lustful thoughts; an itching or longing of lewd and lascivious desires.

For clarity, the Supreme Court created its first standard for obscenity:  "whether to the average person, applying contemporary community standards, the dominant theme of the material taken as a whole appeals to prurient interests."

Afterword.  These consolidated cases begins a fun and interesting tale of the Supreme Court determining what is exactly obscene, or as Justice Harlan claimed, "the intractable obscenity problem."