Thurgood Marshall

“ Vague standards, unless narrowed by interpretation, encourage erratic administration whether the censor be administrative or judicial; 'individual impressions become the yardstick of action, and result in regulation in accordance with the beliefs of the individual censor rather than regulation by law,' Kingsley Int'l Pictures Corp. v. Regents, supra, 360 U.S. at 701, 79 S.Ct. at 1372 (Clark, J., concurring in result) . [11]
The dangers inherent in vagueness are strikingly illustrated in these cases. ”

“ No exhibitor shall be allowed to file more than one (1) application for change of classification of the same film. Such application shall contain a sworn statement of the grounds upon which the application is based. Upon filing of such application, the City Secretary shall bring it immediately to the attention of the Chairman of the Board, who upon application by the exhibitor shall set a time and place for a hearing and shall notify the applicants and all interested parties, including all exhibitors who may be exhibiting or preparing to exhibit the film. ”

“ If that were the test, I would agree with my Brother HARLAN that the standard of 'sexual promiscuity' in this Dallas ordinance is sufficiently precise and discriminating for modern man to apply intelligently. ”

“ The Board is then required to go to court within three days to seek a temporary injunction, and a hearing is required to be set on that application within five days thereafter; if the exhibitor agrees to waive notice and requests a hearing on the merits of a permanent injunction, the Board is required to waive its application for a temporary injunction and join in the exhibitor's request. If an injunction does not issue within 10 days of the exhibitor's notice of nonacceptance, the Board's classification order is suspended. ”

“ The vices-the lack of guidance to those who seek to adjust their conduct and to those who seek to administer the law, as well as the possible practical curtailing of the effectiveness of judicial review-are the same.
It is not our province to draft legislation. Suffice it to say that we have recognized that some believe 'motion pictures possess a greater capacity for evil, particularly among the youth of a community, than other modes of expression,' Joseph Burstyn, Inc. ”

“ On filing the record with the Court of Civil Appeals, the Board shall file a motion to advance requesting the Court to give a preferential setting the same as is afforded an appeal from a temporary injunction or other preferential matters. ”

“ The Texas Supreme Court denied discretionary review and therefore the appeal is from the judgment of the Court of Civil Appeals. 28 U.S.C. § 1257 (2) .↑ The ordinance is set forth in an Appendix to this opinion. The parties disagree as to the meaning of certain of its provisions that have not been authoritatively interpreted by courts of the State. ”

“ In Joseph Burstyn, Inc. v. Wilson, supra, the Court dealt with a film licensing standard of 'sacrilegious,' which was found to have such an all-inclusive definition as to result in 'substantially unbridled censorship.' 343 U.S., at 502, 72 S.Ct. 777. Following Burstyn, the Court held the following film licensing standards to be unconstitutionally vague: 'of such character as to be prejudicial to the best interests of the people of said City,' Gelling v. State of Texas, 343 U.S. 960, 72 S.Ct. 1002, 96 L.Ed. 1359 (1952) ; 'moral, educational or amusing and harmless,' Superior Films, Inc. v. ”

“ See n. 2, supra.↑ 402 S.W.2d 770, 774-775.↑ Appellee says that youths under 16 years of age accompanied throughout the showing of the picture by a guardian (parent) or spouse, may attend not suitable films. ”