American Theatre Corporation v. United States

Background

A theater company and others were convicted in federal district court in Nebraska for knowingly transporting two allegedly obscene films by common carrier across state lines, under a federal criminal law (18 U.S.C. §1462). The Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed those convictions, and the Supreme Court was asked to review the case but declined to take it up.

Reasoning

The Supreme Court’s action was simply to refuse review, leaving the lower-court ruling in place. Justice Brennan, joined by Justices Stewart and Marshall, dissented from the denial. He said the federal statute under which the defendants were convicted is plainly overbroad and unconstitutional on its face, echoed arguments he made in earlier dissents, and would have granted review and reversed the convictions.

Real world impact

Because the Court declined to review, the convictions and any penalties imposed remain in effect for now, and the federal obscenity statute continues to be enforceable in similar cases. The decision is a refusal to settle the broader constitutional question now; the dissent explicitly raises a constitutional challenge that could be litigated later.

Dissents or concurrances

Justice Brennan’s dissent argues the law reaches too far, and notes it is unclear the trials used local community standards for judging obscenity. He would have vacated the judgment and sent the case back to decide whether the defendants should get a new trial applying local community standards.