Carver v. Florida

Background

On February 12, 1976, sheriff’s deputies in Pinellas County, Florida, seized from a movie-theater employee a copy of an allegedly obscene motion picture. The employee reserved his right to appeal several pretrial rulings but ultimately pleaded nolo contendere to a charge described as a felony for possessing obscene material with intent to exhibit under Florida law, which the Florida Supreme Court has read to follow the standards from earlier Supreme Court obscenity cases.

Reasoning

The Supreme Court denied the employee’s petition for review, so the high Court did not decide the legal merits of his conviction. The denial leaves the Florida appellate outcome in place. The statute at issue treats a first offense as a misdemeanor and a later violation as a felony; the Florida courts applied national obscenity standards in their decision. Because certiorari was denied, no majority opinion from this Court explains a new rule or change to the law in this case.

Real world impact

As a practical matter, the employee’s conviction remains in force and Florida’s enforcement of exhibition-related obscenity rules continues under the state court’s interpretation. The denial is not a final national ruling on the constitutional questions raised; the larger First and Fourteenth Amendment controversy about suppressing sexually oriented materials could still be decided in a future case.

Dissents or concurrances

Three Justices (Brennan, joined by Stewart and Marshall) dissented from the denial and said they would have granted review and summarily reversed, expressing the view that, except for distribution to children or exposing unwilling adults, the Constitution bars wholesale suppression of sexually oriented material.