Sanders v. Georgia

Background

Arthur Sanders Jr. was convicted in a Fulton County, Georgia, criminal court for showing the motion picture "Deep Throat" on two occasions. The convictions charged him under a Georgia statute that defines obscene material by community standards, prurient appeal, lack of serious value, and patently offensive sexual depiction. The Georgia Supreme Court affirmed the convictions, and Sanders asked the United States Supreme Court to review that decision.

Reasoning

The Supreme Court declined to take up the case and denied the petition for review, which leaves the Georgia courts’ rulings in place. Justice Brennan, joined by Justices Stewart and Marshall, dissented. He argued that, except for distribution to minors or exposure to unwilling adults, the Constitution prevents complete suppression of sexually oriented material and that the Georgia law is too broad on its face. Brennan said he would have granted review, reversed the conviction, and required a new look under appropriate local community standards.

Real world impact

Because the Court refused review, the Georgia convictions remain effective for this defendant, and Georgia may continue to enforce its obscenity law in similar cases unless another court or a future Supreme Court ruling changes the law. The dissent’s view that the statute is overbroad and that defendants should be allowed to introduce evidence about local community standards highlights a possible path for future challenges to state obscenity prosecutions.

Dissents or concurrances

Justice Brennan’s dissent, joined by two colleagues, explains his view that the statute is unconstitutional as applied broadly and urges a remand to allow consideration of local community standards.