Source: http://www.chanrobles.com/usa/us_supremecourt/445/308/case.php
Timestamp: 2019-12-14 21:22:29
Document Index: 209446884

Matched Legal Cases: ['Art. 4667', 'Art. 4666', 'Art. 4666', 'Art. 4667', 'Art. 4667', 'Art. 4667', 'Art. 4667', 'Art. 4667', 'Art. 4667', 'Art. 4667']

Two different Texas statutes were in issue at that point. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
unless certain conditions are met. The second nuisance statute, Art. 4667(a) (Vernon Supp. 1978), provides that certain habitual uses of premises shall constitute a public nuisance and shall be enjoined at the suit of either the State or any citizen. Among the prohibited uses is "the commercial manufacturing, commercial distribution, or commercial exhibition of obscene material." [Footnote 2] chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
The three-judge District Court held that both of these statutes authorize state judges, on the basis of a showing that obscene films have been exhibited in the past, to prohibit the future exhibition of motion pictures that have not yet been found to be obscene. 404 F.Supp. 33 (1975). Recognizing that it is not unusual in nuisance litigation to prohibit future conduct on the basis of a finding of undesirable past or present conduct, the District Court read Near v. Minnesota ex rel. Olson, 283 U. S. 697 (1931), to require a special analysis when the prohibited future conduct may be protected by the First Amendment. [Footnote 3] The routine abatement procedure, which the District Court characterized as "the heavy hand of the public nuisance statute," was considered constitutionally deficient in the First Amendment context. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Because the three-judge District Court granted only declaratory, and not injunctive, relief, the State appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. See Gerstein v. Coe, 417 U. S. 279 (1974). A divided panel of that court reversed. 559 F.2d 1286 (1977) . The panel chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
majority acknowledged that, if Art. 4666 authorized the closing of a motion picture theater for all uses for a year, it "would pose serious first amendment questions," 559 F.2d 1290, but held that the District Court had misconstrued Art. 4666 in that it was not intended to apply to obscenity cases. [Footnote 6]
559 F.2d 1292 (emphasis in original). Further, the panel majority found no problem under Freedman v. Maryland, 380 U. S. 51 (1965), because any temporary restraint entered pending a final adjudication on the issue of obscenity would be imposed by a judge, not an administrative censor. The judgment of the District Court was therefore reversed. [Footnote 7] chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
The Texas defendants appealed to this Court, and we noted probable jurisdiction. 442 U.S. 928. We limit our review chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
The Court of Appeals was quite correct in concluding both (a) that the regulation of a communicative activity such as the exhibition of motion pictures must adhere to more narrowly drawn procedures than is necessary for he abatement of an ordinary nuisance, [Footnote 12] and (b) that the burden of supporting chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
As the District Court and the Court of Appeals construed Art. 4667(a), when coupled with the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, it authorizes prior restraints of indefinite duration on the exhibition of motion pictures that have not been finally adjudicated to be obscene. [Footnote 14] Presumably, an exhibitor would be required to obey such an order pending review of its merits and would be subject to contempt proceedings even if the film is ultimately found to be nonobscene. [Footnote 15] Such prior restraints would be more onerous and more objectionable than the threat of criminal sanctions after a film has been exhibited, since nonobscenity would be a defense to any criminal prosecution. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
"In its defense, the state has tried to distinguish the instant case from Near v. Minnesota, supra, but the attempt is not successful. In both cases, the state made the mistake of prohibiting future conduct after a finding of undesirable present conduct. When that future conduct may be protected by the first amendment, the whole system must fail, because the dividing line between protected and unprotected speech may be 'dim and uncertain.' 372 U. S. 66 (1963)]. The separation of these forms of speech calls for 'sensitive tools,' Speiser v. Randall,@ 357 U. S. 513 . . . (1958), not the heavy hand of the public nuisance statute."
559 F.2d 1303.
"Any system of prior restraint, however, 'comes to this Court bearing a heavy presumption against its constitutional validity.' Bantam Books, Inc. v. Sullivan, 372 U.S. at 372 U. S. 70; 403 U. S. 714 (1971)]; Organization for a Better Austin v. Keefe, 402 U. S. 415, 402 U. S. 419 (1971); Carroll v. Princess Anne, 393 U. S. 175, 393 U. S. 181 (1968); 283 U. S. 716 (1931)]. The presumption against prior restraints is heavier -- and the degree of protection broader -- than that against limits on expression imposed by criminal penalties. Behind the distinction is a theory deeply etched in our law: a free society prefers to punish the few who abuse rights of speech after they break the law than to throttle them and all others beforehand. It is always difficult to know in advance what an individual will say, and the line between legitimate and illegitimate speech is often so finely drawn that the risks of freewheeling censorship are formidable. See Speiser v. Randall, 357 U. S. 513 (1958)."
I would dismiss the appeal for failure to present a real and substantial controversy "of the immediacy which is an indispensable chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
367 U.S. at 367 U. S. 508. By passing on the constitutionality of the Texas statute, the Court ignores this wise counsel. [Footnote 2/2] chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Moreover, the need for constitutional decision could be obviated in this case by permitting the Texas courts an opportunity to interpret Texas law. The Court today assumes (1) that "a temporary injunction of indefinite duration" could be issued against a named motion picture "on the basis of a showing of probable success on the merits," ante at 445 U. S. 316, n. 14; and (2) that an exhibitor would be subject to criminal contempt proceedings for violating such an injunction even if the motion picture is ultimately adjudged nonobscene, ante at 445 U. S. 316, and n. 15. If these assumptions are correct, the statute is obviously flawed. See Freedman v. Maryland, 380 U. S. 51 (1965). But there is ample reason to believe that the Court may be wrong in today's conjectures; indeed, there is a serious question as to whether the Texas statute even authorizes an injunction against a named film. Compare ante at 445 U. S. 312, and dissenting opinion of MR. JUSTICE WHITE, post at 445 U. S. 325. If such an injunction is permitted, the decision of the Texas Court of Civil Appeals in Locke v. State, 516 S.W.2d 949 (1974), casts doubt on the assumption that it can be obtained on a showing of probable success. There, the Texas court, in reviewing the validity of a temporary injunction entered against a motion picture exhibitor, made a de novo on-the-merits determination of obscenity. [Footnote 2/3] Are we really to believe that the trial court applies a less stringent, probable success standard? At the very least, Locke demonstrates that, if an injunction is chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
The Court of Appeals' analysis of Art. 4667(a), and that of this Court as well, glosses over what I take to be a crucial chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
The initial injunctive proceeding is both substantively and procedurally sound under our precedents. Although the lack of an actual Art. 4667(a) injunction in the present case gives a somewhat abstract and hypothetical tone to the analysis, it seems undisputed that any injunction granted under Art. 4667(a) will be phrased in terms of the Miller v. California, 413 U. S. 15 (1973), definition of obscenity. [Footnote 3/1] Hence an Art. 4667(a) injunction would not, by its terms, forbid the exhibition of any materials protected by the First Amendment, and would impose no greater functional burden on First Amendment values than would an equivalent -- and concededly chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
There remains the question of whether the procedures employed at a contempt proceeding satisfy First Amendment requirements. I believe that they do. An exhibitor who shows a film arguably violative of the injunction would likely be tried for criminal contempt. At such a proceeding, the exhibitor would have the constitutional rights of any criminal defendant. In particular, the State would bear the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the film which chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
The defendant might also be held in civil contempt if he refused to cease showing a specific motion picture proved to be obscene and contrary to the terms of the injunction. A civil contempt proceeding, unlike the original Art. 4667(a) injunction, could result in jailing or fining the exhibitor until he ceased showing a film that had been publicly determined to be obscene. But such procedures would fully satisfy the requirements of our cases. Under Texas law, no one may be held in civil contempt unless he has received notice, in the form of an order to show cause, and a hearing on the charge against him. E.g., Ex parte Mouille, 572 S.W.2d 60, 62 (Tex.Civ.App. 1978). The burden of bringing civil contempt charges is on the party seeking to suppress the exhibition; presumably, that party, as plaintiff, also bears the burden of showing noncompliance with the injunction, and in particular of proving that the exhibitor has shown obscene films. Since contempt proceedings are held before a court, a civil contempt order will not issue until there has been a final judicial determination that the defendant has exhibited and chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
The second reason given by the Court of Appeals for invalidating Art. 4667(a), and apparently adopted by this Court, was the "failure to provide the safeguards mandated by" Freedman v. Maryland, 380 U. S. 51 (1965), and Southeastern Promotions, Ltd. v. Conrad, 420 U. S. 546 (1975). Those cases held that injunctions against showing allegedly obscene films are invalid unless (1) the burdens of instituting proceedings and of proving the material is obscene are on the censor; (2) the restraint prior to judicial review continues chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
The Fifth Circuit majority expressed some doubt as to whether the State will have the burden of proof of showing that the film is obscene. 587 F.2d 171, n. 23, citing Railroad Comm'r v. Sample, 405 S.W.2d 338, 343 (Tex.1966). The Sample case was a challenge to an order of the State Railroad Commission, not a contempt proceeding; it stands, at most, for the proposition that, in Texas, an order to show cause does not conclusively establish which party bears the burden of proof. The case does not establish that a party receiving an order to show cause why he should not be held in criminal contempt bears the burden of proof on any element of the contempt. To the contrary, obscenity is one element of the injunction, and if the State has the burden of showing violation of the injunction beyond a reasonable doubt, it follows that the State, as a matter of due process, has the burden of showing that the particular film shown was obscene.