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Ginzburg v. United States

383 U.S. 463 (1966)

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Ginzburg v. United States

United States Supreme Court
383 U.S. 463 (1966)

  • Written by Rose VanHofwegen, JD

Facts

The government (plaintiff) charged Ralph Ginzburg and three corporations he controlled (defendants) with violating a federal law that banned mailing obscenity. Ginzburg’s corporations published the magazine EROS, the newsletter Liaison, and the book The Housewife’s Handbook on Selective Promiscuity (the Handbook). Ginzburg initially sought mailing privileges from the postmasters of two Pennsylvania towns, Intercourse and Blue Ball. The trial court denied Ginzburg mailing privileges from those towns, as Ginzburg obviously chose them for the salacious appeal of their names and their postal facilities could not handle the anticipated volume of mail. Ginzburg then obtained mailing privileges from Middlesex, New Jersey, and mailed out 5,500 copies of the Handbook and several million circulars. The circulars solicited subscriptions for EROS and Liaison by stressing their sexual candor and openly boasting that the publishers would maximize what they saw as an unrestricted legal license in the expression of sex and sexual matters. The judge convicted Ginzburg on 28 counts of violating the federal obscenity law and sentenced him to five years’ imprisonment. The Third Circuit affirmed, and Ginzburg appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Brennan, J.)

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