Supreme Court of the United States
Redrup v. New York
May 8, 1967386 U.S. 767
Summary
The Court held that state statutes cannot suppress the distribution of the challenged publications because such suppression is barred by the First and Fourteenth Amendments. Accordingly, the judgments in Redrup v. New York, Austin v. Kentucky, and Gent v. Arkansas were reversed. Justice Harlan, dissenting, argued that the Court should have addressed the scienter and vagueness issues that were the basis of the certiorari.
Holding
- Whether a state may constitutionally suppress the distribution of publications alleged to be obscene under the First and Fourteenth Amendments. State statutes cannot suppress the distribution of the publications; such suppression is barred by the First and Fourteenth Amendments
- Whether a civil injunction against the distribution of alleged obscene magazines violates the First Amendment. A civil injunction enjoining distribution of the magazines is an unconstitutional prior restraint
- Whether the criminal statutes under which the petitioners were convicted are facially invalid as prior restraints. The criminal statutes are facially invalid because they permit suppression of protected speech without the required narrow tailoring
Docket 3
Cited authorities
- N.Y. Pen. Law § 1141