Obscenity Rules: Roth v. United States and the Long Struggle over Sexual Expression (Landmark Law Cases and American Society)

Synopsis

The Supreme Court's 6-3 Decision In Roth V. United States (1957) For The First Time Tried To Definitively Rule On The Issue Of Obscenity In American Life And Law-and Failed. Whitney Strub Lays Out The History Of Obscenity's Meaning As A Legal Concept, Highlights The Influence Of Anti-vice Crusaders Like Anthony Comstock, And Chronicles The Shadowy Career Of Samuel Roth (america's Leading Smut Lung) Who Spent Nearly A Decade Imprisoned For The Allegedly Obscene Materials He Sent Through The Mails. Strub Then Unwraps The Events That Produced The Roth Case, Places The Trial In The Context Of Its Times, And Fully Explores The Impact Of Justice William Brennan's Majority Opinion-which On The One Hand Reflected The Liberalizing Attitude Toward Sexual Matters In Mid-century America, But On The Other Kept Obscene Expressions Beyond First Amendment Protection. -- Publisher Description Toward Obscenity : Legal Evolution From Colonies To Comstock -- Modernizing Free Speech : Politics, Sex, And The First Amendment In The Early Twentieth Century -- Samuel Roth, From Art To Smut -- The Absent Supreme Court : Obscenity Doctrine In The 1940s -- Cold War, Hot Lust : Sexual Politics In The 1950s -- Anatomy Of A Case -- Writing Roth : The Court Opines -- The Two Roths : Liberalization, Regulation, And The Apparent Paradox Of Obscenity In The 1960s -- From Porno Chic To New Critiques : Conservatives, Feminists, And Backlash To Obscenity -- Epilogue : After Obscenity? Whitney Strub. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.