MILLER VS CALIFORNIA
By Justin Lacks
THE ISSUE
• Marvin Miller worked for a company
that dealt with "adult" material
• In an attempt to advertise their
product, the company issued a
mass mail campaign of their
uncensored material.
• Of the unwilling recipients, an
mother and son felt offended and
called the police.
• This set the series of court
apperances in motion.
http://www.thekmfp.com/obscenity-legally-defined/
WHAT WAS BEING REVIEWD
• Was the mailing of the obscene material protected under the first
amendment?
THE DECISION
• The Supreme Court decided in a 5-4 decision that no, it was not protected
by the first amendment.
WHAT HE WAS FOUND GUILTY OF
• The Supreme Court found Marvin Miller guilty of a misdemeanor because he
distributed obscene material to unwilling participants.
DISENTING OPINION
• The Dissenting opinion was written
by Douglas and Brennan.
• Douglas stated, "I do not think we,
the judges, were ever given the
constitutional power to make definitions
of obscenity"
http://www.oyez.org/justices/william_o_douglas
Portrait of Douglas
MAJORITY OPINION
• The Majority Opinion was written by
Chief Justice Burger.
• Burger's Majority Opinion gave us
the obscenity test that we use
today.
• This is known as the "Miller Test" or
the Three Prong Obscenity Test.
http://www.oyez.org/justices/warren_e_burger
Photo of Chief Justice
Burger.
THE MILLER TEST
• Obscenity is determined on: "(a) whether "the average person, applying
contemporary community standards" would find that the work, taken as a
whole, appeals to the prurient interest ... (b) whether the work depicts or
describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined
by the applicable state law, and (c) whether the work, taken as a whole,
lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value" ("Miller v. California")
• All three parts must be met in order for something to be considered obscene
https://www.wbhm.org/News/Public_Arts_Funding.html
HISTORICAL SIGNIFIGANCE
• Miller vs California gave the court system the Miller obscenity test, which is still
in use today.
• This has put an end to the long term debate about what is obscene and
what is not.
WORKS CITED
• "Miller v. California." TheFreeDictionary.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2014.
<http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Miller+v.+California>.
PICTURE REFERENCES
• http://www.oyez.org/justices/warren_e_burger
• http://www.oyez.org/justices/william_o_douglas
• https://www.wbhm.org/News/Public_Arts_Funding.html
• http://www.thekmfp.com/obscenity-legally-defined/