As a result of the search, over one thousand items, or virtually the entire inventory of the store, were seized. The complaint also requested that, if the items were found obscene, the court order them destroyed and enter a permanent injunction prohibiting defendants from selling or acquiring any more such material. The trial court denied defendants' motion to suppress the seized items but granted their motion for summary disposition and declined to enter an injunction. The City appeals as of right.
Defendants cross-appeal the denial of their motion to suppress.
The chief executive or legal office of any city, village or charter township or prosecuting attorney of the county may institute and maintain an action in the circuit court against any person, firm or corporation to enjoin and prevent the sale or further sale or the distribution or further distribution or the acquisition or possession of any book, magazine, pamphlet, comic book, story paper, writing, paper, picture, drawing, photograph, figure or image or any written or printed matter of an indecent character, which is obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, indecent or disgusting, or which contains an article or instrument of indecent or immoral use or purports to be for indecent or immoral use or purpose. A preliminary injunction or restraining order may be issued upon or at any time after the filing of the complaint. The person, firm or corporation sought to be enjoined is entitled to a trial of the issues within 1 day after joinder of issue and a decision shall be rendered by the court within 2 days of the conclusion of the trial. It is undisputed that once an item is determined to be obscene, the material is not protected under the First Amendment and may be regulated by the state. At issue in this case is the civil obscenity statute's treatment of material before the material is judged to be obscene or non-obscene, that is, whether the statute's authorization of a preliminary injunction against allegedly obscene materials is an unconstitutional prior restraint on protected speech.