Miller versus California

1
Miller versus California

• -Court Case in 1793

2
What was happend?

• Marvin Miller conducting a mass mailing campaign
  to advertise the sale adult material.
• California state court convicted him of violating
  a statute prohibiting the distribution of obscene
  material.

3
Main problem

• Is the sale of distribution of observe materials
  by mail protected under the First Amendments
  freedom of speech guarantee?
• Before this the Supreme Court tried to make rules
  about obscene material in Roth v. United States
  and Memoirs v. Massachusetts cases.

4
Two different opinions

• Supreme Court argued, that is prohibit to
  distribute this observe material.
• Miller said, that this part isnt protected in
  the First Amendment.

5
Solution

• The Court ruled that distribution of obscene
  material isnt protected by the First Amendment.
• The Court modified the test for obscenity
  established in Roth v. United States and Memoirs
  v. Massachusetts. New Miller test determine what
  is constituted obscene material.
• Three basic guidelines
• Average person, applying contemporary community
  standards would find that the work, taken as a
  whole, appeals to the prurient interest.
• Work depicts or describes, in a patently
  offensive way, sexual conduct specifically
  defined by the applicable state law.
• Work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary,
  artistic, political, or scientific value."

6
Impacts

• States have grater freedom in prosecuting
  purveyors of obscene material. State decide on
  the basis of the Miller test, if some work is
  obscene material.
• Many of obscenity prosecutions went forward.
• Many localities have cracked down on adult
  theatres, bookstores and nude dancing. These
  actions have been upheld by the Supreme Court.

7
Resources

• http//www.firstamendmentcenter.org/faclibrary/cas
  e.aspx?caseMiller_v_CA
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miller_v._California
  
• http//www.oyez.org/cases/1970-1979/1971/1971_70_7
  3/
• http//www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/c
  onlaw/miller.html