William O. Douglas

“ That which is out from under the First Amendment would normally be subject to the police power of the States. Yet the Constitution contains no standards or suggestions of standards respecting the vast array of subjects that various vocal groups would like to have suppressed-obscenity, secrilege, un-Americanism, anti-clerical ideas, atheistic or anti-ecclesiastical ideas, Communism, racism, and so on. Under the Constitution as written there are no standards of 'good' or 'bad' for the press. ”

“ The book, play, poem, or movie is approved or condemned on the basis of the personal beliefs of the judge or jurors, not on the ban of a statute containing clear and objective standards.
The concept of 'utterly without redeeming social importance' will divide even the experts. It is risky and perilous business to send men to prison on such provocative issues, which confuse people and create irreconcilable differences even among the judges who sentence them or approve their convictions. ”

“ If this search-and-destroy technique can be employed against this Dallas newspaper, then it can be done to the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Seattle Post Intelligencer, the Yakima Herald-Republic, the Sacramento Bee, and all the rest of our newspapers. For, as I shall point out, the Texas statute governing 'obscenity' [3] is plainly unconstitutional.
Government certainly has no power to close down newspapers. Even censorship-whether for obscenity, for irresponsible reporting or editorials, or otherwise-is taboo. ”

“ There is ample evidence that the clear and definite language of the first amendment was intended to preclude the very problem of balancing assumed by the Court. The first amendment holds that the interest of society in freedom of expression [8] is more important than the harm that might flow from obscene material. The very interest in protection from injury from obscene material would be better served by allowing each individual to make a free appraisal of pornographic material. ”

“ The evidence in obscenity prosecutions is usually expert testimony. Analysts, English literature scholars, and others often have helpful and informed views, one way or the other. It seems impossible, if we continue to sanction the use of these vague standards in criminal prosecutions, that verdicts will be rendered which are based on the record and not on the emotional factors reflecting the prejudices of the judge or jurors. ”

“ The fact that the liberty of the press may be abused by miscreant purveyors of scandal does not make any the less necessary the immunity of the press from previous restraint in dealing with official misconduct. ”

“ The special circumstances where such federal intervention is permissible are not restricted to bad faith on the part of state officials or the threat of multiple prosecutions. As Mr. Justice Butler, writing for the Court, said in Terrace v. Thompson, 263 U.S. 197, 214, 44 S.Ct. 15, 17, 68 L.Ed. 255:
'Equity jurisdiction will be exercised to enjoin the threatened enforcement of a state law which contravenes the federal Constitution wherever it is essential in order effectually to protect property rights and the rights of persons against injuries otherwise irremediable ”

“ There are those who believe that an 'ethic of sexuality joined with an ethic of the wholeness of life' (F. Darling, Wilderness and Plenty 75 (1970) ) has a close relation not only to population control but to a reverence for both the land and animal life.↑ The amended complaint asked for an injunction only against future arrests and prosecutions under the Texas statute, Art. 527, and a declaration that the statute was unconstitutional. ”

“ California, 283 U.S. 359, 51 S.Ct. 532, 75 L.Ed. 1117.↑ Thomas Jefferson wrote, 'I deplore * * * the putrid state into which our newspapers have passed, and the malignity, the vulgarity, and mendacious spirit of those who write them. * * * It is however an evil for which there is no remedy, our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.' Jefferson, Democracy, selected and arranged by S. Padover 150-151 (1939) .↑ Mr. ”