Court Opinion

ID: 9459631
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 21:26:49.465836+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:36:15.500574
License: Public Domain

COFFIN, Chief Judge
(concurring).
I concur in the court’s opinion. I add these words only to underscore the fact that we continue to apply “national standards” in the judgment of this appeal, notwithstanding the reference to such by the Supreme Court in Miller v. California, - U.S. —, 93 S.Ct. 2607, 37 L.Ed.2d 419 (1973), as involving an “exercise in futility” to define what is “hypothetical and unascertainable”. We do so because of the nature of the federal statute with which we deal and because we see no other alternative if we are to participate meaningfully in the review process. As to the former, if 19 U.S.C. § 1305(a), which permits customs seizures, be said to contemplate the application of state or local standards of prurient appeal or patent offensiveness, the few commercial ports of entry for foreign films or literature would be able to *211preclude such material from ever reaching other parts of this country where it might not be considered obscene or where regulation, rather than an outright prohibition, might be in effect. I cannot believe that Congress intended to grant that veto power, nor wished to condone the effect on foreign and interstate commerce which might ensue from attempts to circumvent such port of call censorship.
As to the latter, were we to remand for a ruling in accordance with Massachusetts-or-Boston standards, we as a reviewing panel would be two-thirds disabled in passing judgment on prurient appeal and patent offensiveness, for one of us is from Rhode Island and one from Maine. On the other hand, if our function is merely to see that the proper law was applied — or, where there was a jury, that the correct instructions were given — and once satisfied, to accept any ensuing finding, it could be said that such review was in name only, and certainly not the “independent review” by an appellate court which is needed to safeguard First Amendment values. Miller, supra, — U.S. at -, 93 S.Ct. at 2615.