Court Opinion

ID: 9720695
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 08:39:35.698384+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:24:20.710071
License: Public Domain

Hallows, C. J.
(concurring). I concur in the result but not in all the arguments made by the majority to sustain its decision. I disagree with the view that this court or any court cannot accurately describe obscene material without interjecting its subjective views. Obscenity, beauty, and other abstractions can be measured by objective standards. An objective standard may be the consensus of private ideas and opinion but nevertheless it is then objective and can be so described. I think the majority is confused in implying that because what is obscene to one person in his personal opinion may not be to another person for obscenity can be described objectively by either person. The Roth test attempts to lay down an objective standard for obscenity and common experience of mankind testifies to objectivity of standards. But this court sometimes affirms a finding of a jury on an objective standard while admitting on a subjective basis it would not make the findings.
My second objection to the majority is the phrasing of the scope of appellate review. This seems to be a battle of words because under any test of appellate review the material in the present case is constitutionally obscene. The majority has retreated from the standards of review adopted in McCauley v. Tropic of Cancer (1963), 20 Wis. 2d 134, 121 N. W. 2d 545, and in doing so emphasizes the importance and the appropriateness of fact finding by the jury. Fact finding by a jury under our system of jurisprudence is the same regardless of the scope of review. The jury finds the facts under proper instructions *709of what is the applicable law. In reality, the jury applies the law to the fact, whether the law deals with negligence, libel, or obscenity. The majority comes back to the standard prior to Tropic of Cancer and the view that a jury properly instructed on the law can decide obscenity as well as the reviewing court. I dissented in a separate opinion and concurred in Mr. Justice Brown’s dissent to the adoption of the new scope of review in the Tropic of Cancer Case and from the proposition that in constitutional cases the appellate court can independently make a finding of a constitutional fact. Of course, under any scope of review, the appellate court in Wisconsin is able to set aside a jury finding on the ground of lack of evidence to sustain by the verdict and on the ground of passion and prejudice.
The majority has not, however, returned to State v. Chobot (1960), 12 Wis. 2d 110, 106 N. W. 2d 286, for its scope of review but imports the statutory standard from the administrative law which might be less favorable to the integrity of the jury. The majority argues this scope of review, namely, substantial evidence, in view of the entire record as a whole gives the jury verdict more stability and immunizes it from probings of appellate courts. However, the test of Chobot and the usual scope of review of jury verdicts required a verdict to be sustained if there was any credible evidence to sustain the verdict and “to sustain” meant sufficient to meet the burden of proof which that type of case requires, which in most cases is the greater weight of the evidence to convince to a reasonable certainty. In other cases the quantum or quality of evidence had to be clear, convincing and satisfactory. I do not see much difference, if any, between substantial evidence in view of the entire record as a whole and the greater weight of the evidence to convince to a reasonable certainty. The point I make is that an appellate court should have one scope of re*710view for all types of eases and should not invent different appellate practices for different types of cases. The different burdens of proof at the trial level is sufficiently differentiating.
My last concern with the majority opinion is whether the scope of review is going to be very effective. The change in the scope of review is based on the premises that at the time of its adoption in Tropic of Cancer, the standard was not required by the majority of the supreme court but only suggested by Mr. Justice Harlan. This, no doubt, was true at that time. But at this late date, I have grave doubts this court can avoid "an excursion into fact finding in the area of constitutional obscenity.” The latest pronouncement in this area is in the opinion of Mr. Justice Brennan in Rosenbloom v. Metromedia (1971), 403 U. S. 29, 53, 91 Sup. Ct. 1811, 29 L. Ed. 2d 296, where he states:
“Aside from these particularized considerations, we have repeatedly recognized that courts may not avoid an excursion into factfinding in this area simply because it is time consuming or difficult. We stated in Pennekamp v. Florida, 328 U. S. 331, 335 (1946), that:
“ ‘The Constitution has imposed upon this Court final authority to determine the meaning and application of those words of that instrument which require interpretation to resolve judicial issues. With that responsibility, we are compelled to examine for ourselves the statements in issue and the circumstances under which they were made to see whether or not they . . . are of a character which the principles of the First Amendment, as adopted by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, protect.’ (Footnote omitted.)
“Clearly, then, this Court has an ‘obligation to test challenged judgments against the guarantees of the First and Fourteenth Amendments,’ and in doing so ‘this Court cannot avoid making an independent constitutional judgment on the facts of the case.’ Jacobellis v. Ohio, 378 U. S. 184, 190 (1964). The simple fact is that First Amendment questions of ‘constitutional fact’ compel this Court’s de novo review. See Edwards v. South Carolina, *711372 U. S. 229, 235 (1963); Blackburn v. Alabama, 361 U. S. 199, 205, n. 5 (1960).”
While I personally favor a narrower scope of review, as my dissents in the Tronic of Cancer indicated, I am not now sure that the United States Supreme Court agrees with that view.