Memoirs v. Massachusetts
E468427
Memoirs v. Massachusetts is a 1966 U.S. Supreme Court decision that refined the legal test for obscenity under the First Amendment, further protecting controversial literary works from censorship.
Statements (49)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
First Amendment case
ⓘ
United States Supreme Court case ⓘ obscenity case ⓘ |
| alsoKnownAs | A Book Named "John Cleland's Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure" v. Attorney General of Massachusetts NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| areaOfLaw |
civil liberties
ⓘ
constitutional law ⓘ |
| category |
United States Supreme Court cases on freedom of expression
ⓘ
United States Supreme Court cases on obscenity ⓘ |
| chiefJusticeAtDecision | Earl Warren NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| citation | 383 U.S. 413 ⓘ |
| concurrenceBy |
Potter Stewart
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
William O. Douglas NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| constitutionalProvision |
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| country |
United States of America
ⓘ
surface form:
United States
|
| court | Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ |
| decisionDate | 1966-03-21 ⓘ |
| decisionType | plurality decision ⓘ |
| dissentBy |
Byron R. White
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
John M. Harlan II NERFINISHED ⓘ Tom C. Clark NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| fullName | Memoirs v. Massachusetts, 383 U.S. 413 (1966) NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| holding |
The book at issue could not be deemed obscene under the Roth test as refined by the Court.
ⓘ
To be obscene, material must be utterly without redeeming social value. ⓘ |
| impact | expanded protection for controversial literary works from censorship ⓘ |
| issue | Whether the book "Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure" could be banned as obscene. ⓘ |
| jurisdiction |
United States of America
ⓘ
surface form:
United States
|
| languageOfProceeding | English ⓘ |
| legalSubject |
freedom of speech
ⓘ
freedom of the press ⓘ obscenity law ⓘ |
| legalTestElement |
The dominant theme of the material taken as a whole must appeal to a prurient interest in sex.
ⓘ
The material must be patently offensive because it affronts contemporary community standards relating to the description or representation of sexual matters. ⓘ The material must be utterly without redeeming social value. ⓘ |
| limitedByCase | Miller v. California NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| majorityOpinionBy | William J. Brennan Jr. NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| pageInUnitedStatesReports | 413 ⓘ |
| petitioner | A Book Named "John Cleland's Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure" NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| pluralityOpinionBy | William J. Brennan Jr. NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| precedentFor | later obscenity jurisprudence under the First Amendment ⓘ |
| refinedTestFromCase | Roth v. United States NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| relatedAuthor | John Cleland NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| relatedWork | Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| respondent | Attorney General of Massachusetts NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| result | Massachusetts judgment declaring the book obscene was reversed ⓘ |
| stateParty | Commonwealth of Massachusetts NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| subjectMatter | censorship of sexually explicit literature ⓘ |
| timePeriod | Warren Court NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| volumeInUnitedStatesReports | 383 ⓘ |
Referenced by (3)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.