Art Theater Guild, Inc., Et Al. v. Ewing

Background

A theater company sought to show the movie "Without A Stitch," and a person brought a lawsuit in Lucas County, Ohio, to stop the film. The lawsuit argued that showing the movie made the theater a public nuisance because Ohio law treats places that exhibit filmed obscenity as nuisances. Ohio’s statute defines obscenity by several criteria, and the local trial court found the film obscene and enjoined its exhibition. The Ohio courts of appeals and the Ohio Supreme Court affirmed that injunction.

Reasoning

The Supreme Court considered the appeal but dismissed it for want of a substantial federal question, which leaves the Ohio courts’ ruling in place without the High Court deciding the constitutional merits. Justice Brennan, joined by Justices Stewart and Marshall, dissented. He explained that, in his view, the First and Fourteenth Amendments bar wholesale suppression of sexually oriented material except in narrow situations like distribution to juveniles or exposure to unconsenting adults, and he believed Ohio’s statute was unconstitutionally overbroad. He cited his earlier dissents in Paris Adult Theatre I and Miller and said he would reverse the Ohio decision.

Real world impact

Because the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, the Ohio injunction preventing the theater from showing the film remains effective for now. The dismissal does not resolve the underlying constitutional question nationwide; the High Court did not reach a final ruling on whether the Ohio law is constitutional. The matter could be revisited in a future case that presents the constitutional issue for full review.

Dissents or concurrances

Justice Brennan’s dissent, joined by two other Justices, said the statute was facially invalid and would have reversed the state courts’ ruling.