437 U.S. 909 | SCOTUS | 1978
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting.
Petitioners were convicted in the United States District Court for the Central District of California of multiple counts of knowingly transporting allegedly obscene materials in interstate commerce by common carrier in violation of 18 U. S. C. §§ 1462
Petitioners ask this Court to consider whether “a standard of scienter which authorizes obscenity convictions on mere knowledge of the ‘sexual orientation’ of material impermis-sibly chill [s] the dissemination of expression protected under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.” Pet. for Cert. 2. This question is much the same as that presented in Ballew v. Georgia, 435 U. S. 223 (1978), Sewell v.
“Whoever brings into the "United States, or any place subject to the jurisdiction thereof, or knowingly uses any express company or other common carrier, for carriage in interstate or foreign commerce—
“(a) any obscene, lewd, lascivious, or filthy book, pamphlet, picture, motion-picture film, paper, letter, writing, print, or other matter of indecent character . . .
“Shall be fined not more than $5,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both . . . .”
“Whoever knowingly transports in interstate or foreign commerce for the purpose of sale or distribution any obscene, lewd, lascivious, or filthy book, pamphlet, picture, film, paper, letter, writing, print, silhouette, drawing, figure, image, cast, phonograph recording, electrical transcription or other article capable of producing sound or any other matter of indecent or immoral character, shall be fined not more than $5,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.”
Lead Opinion
C. A. 9th Cir. Certiorari denied.