Case Name: JENKINS v. THE STATE
Court: Supreme Court of Georgia
Jurisdiction: Georgia
Decision Date: 1973-07-02
Citations: 230 Ga. 726
Docket Number: 27692
Parties: JENKINS v. THE STATE.
Judges: All the Justices concur, except Undercofler, Hawes, and Gunter, JJ, who dissent.
Reporter: Georgia Reports
Volume: 230
Pages: 726–738

Head Matter:
27692.
JENKINS v. THE STATE.
Submitted February 12, 1973
Decided July 2, 1973.
Smith, Gardner, Wiggins, Geer & Brimberry, Peter Zack Geer, Charles F. Hatcher, for appellant.
Robert Reynolds, District Attorney, Tony H. Hight, for appellee.

Opinion:
Jordan, Justice.
Billy Jenkins appeals his conviction and sentence for the offense of distributing obscene materials. The conviction is based on the fact that he exhibited the film Carnal Knowledge in a movie theater in Albany, Georgia.
The threshold question to be decided is whether or not the showing of the film Carnal Knowledge violates Code Ann. Ch. 26-21 prohibiting the distribution of obscene materials. The trial jury, under proper instructions from the court, has found the defendant guilty. After a review of the record and a viewing of the film by this court we affirm.
Code Ann. § 26-2101 (b) provides that "Material is obscene if considered as a whole, applying community standards, its predominant appeal is to prurient interest, that is, a shameful or morbid interest in nudity, sex or excretion, and utterly without redeeming social value and if, in addition, it goes substantially beyond customary limits of candor in describing or representing such matters." The accusation charges the defendant "with the offense of distributing obscene material." The accusation without expressly referring to Code Ann. § 26-2105 is then cast in the language of the prohibited acts as defined in Code Ann. § 26-2011. The appellant contends that the accusation is defective in that it fails to include the definition of obscene materials as defined in Code Ann. § 26-2101 (b). This view is adopted by the minority which seizes upon this alleged defect to hold Code Ann. § 26-2105 unconstitutional.
It is our view that a statute can provide criminal punishment without the definition of obscenity being included within that specific code section. The chapter in which Code Ann. § 26-2105 is included at its very beginning amply defines obscenity and this particular code section, which is merely a part of the chapter, must be read in accordance with the entire chapter. This court has held that sections of the code which relate to the same subject matter shall be construed together. See Touchton v. Echols County, 211 Ga. 85, 87 (84 SE2d 81). It seems clear then that the definition of obscenity as set forth in the chapter applies to all of the code sections dealing with this same question.
The trial court correctly charged this definition of obscenity as the guideline for the jury to apply in this particular case. In Roth v. United States, 354 U. S. 476 (3) (77 SC 1304, 1 LE2d 1498), it was held that "obscenity is not within the area of constitutionally protected freedom of speech or press." Memoirs v. Massachusetts, 383 U. S. 413 (86 SC 975, 16 LE2d 1), gave a test of obscenity to the effect that it must be established that the dominant theme appeals to prurient interest, the material affronts contemporary community standards, and is utterly without redeeming social value. This test has been included in our law (Code Ann. § 26-2101 (b)) thus making our present statute considerably more restrictive than the new test set forth in the recent case of Miller v. California, No. 70-73, 41 LW 4925. The Miller case, supra, further held that juries can consider State or local community standards in lieu of "national standards," thereby bringing the holding of this court in Gornto v. State, 227 Ga. 46 (178 SE2d 894) in line with Miller, supra, on this point.
This court has held that the exhibition of an obscene motion picture is a crime involving the welfare of the public at large, since it is contrary to the standards of decency and propriety of the community as a whole. Evans Theatre Corp. v. Slaton, 227 Ga. 377 (180 SE2d 712). In Slaton v. Paris Adult Theater I, 228 Ga. 343 (185 SE2d 768), this court held that the films involved in that case were "hard core" pornography and that the commercial exhibition of such pictures is not protected by the first amendment. The Supreme Court of the United States which in effect affirmed the Paris case, supra, held that states have a legitimate interest in regulating commerce in obscene material and its exhibition in places of public accommodation, including "adult" theaters; further holding that the exhibition of obscene material in such places of public accommodation is not protected by any constitutional doctrine of privacy, and that a commercial theater cannot be equated with a private home. See Paris Adult Theatre I v. Slaton, No. 71-1051, 41 LW 4935.
We hold that the evidence in this record amply supports the verdict of guilty by the showing of the film Carnal Knowledge in violation of the definition of distributing obscene materials under our Georgia statutes.
Judgment affirmed.
All the Justices concur, except Undercofler, Hawes, and Gunter, JJ, who dissent.