Court Opinion

ID: 9428529
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:24:03.624697+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:23:14.043310
License: Public Domain

Justice Brennan,
with whom Justice Marshall joins,
dissenting.
Although I adhere to my view that a State may not constitutionally suppress sexually oriented films except perhaps as necessary to shield juveniles or unconsenting adults, see, e. g., Paris Adult Theatre I v. Slaton, 413 U. S. 49, 73 (1973) (Brennan, J., dissenting), since the State alone has petitioned for review in this case, I concur in limiting the grant of certiorari to consideration of whether the State must demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt that communication it seeks to suppress is obscene. I share, however, Justice Stevens’ concern, post, at 97, that we lack the requisite assurance of our jurisdiction to consider this question and join his suggestion that we adhere to our ordinary practice of denying the writ or of remanding to the state court for a determination of whether the decison below rests on a federal or a state ground. California v. Krivda, 409 U. S. 33 (1972).
Alternatively, assuming we have jurisdiction in this case, I dissent from the Court’s holding that the First Amendment does not require the State when it seeks to suppress otherwise constitutionally protected material to prove that material obscene beyond a reasonable doubt. My reasons are stated in my concurring opinion in McKinney v. Alabama, 424 U. S. 669, 683-687 (1976).