Dennis v. United States, 341 U.S. 494; 71 S. Ct. 857; 95 L. Ed. 1137 (1951) Facts—Eleven leaders of the Communist Party were convicted of violating the 1940 Smith Act. The defendants were convicted of conspiring to organize the Communist…

American Communications Association v. Douds, 339 U.S. 382; 70 S. Ct. 674; 94 L. Ed. 925 (1950) Facts—Section 9 (h) of the Taft-Hartley Act, the Labor-Management Relations Act of 1947, provides that the National Labor Relations Board shall not investigate…

Schenck v. United States, 249 U.S. 47; 39 S. Ct. 247; 63 L. Ed. 470 (1919) Facts—Schenck, the general secretary of the Socialist Party, sent out about 15,000 leaflets to men who had been called to military service, urging them…

Ashcroft v. American Civil Liberties Union, 542 U.S. 656; 124 S. Ct. 2783; 159 L. Ed. 2d 690 (2004) Facts—The Child Online Protection Act (COPA) required commercial Internet postings of sexual material to limit access to minors by requiring use…

Ashcroft v. The Free Speech Coalition, 535 U.S. 234; 122 S. Ct. 1389; 152 L. Ed. 2d 403; 2002 U.S. LEXIS 1789 (2002) Facts—In the Child Pornography Prevention Act (CCPA) of 1996, Congress expanded its ban on child pornography to…

National Endowment for the Arts v. Finley, 524 U.S. 569; 118 S. Ct. 2168; 141 L. Ed. 2d 500 (1998) Facts—Stung by outcries over federal funding of art that was considered to be obscene or blasphemous, Congress amended the National…

Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union, 521 U.S. 844; 117 S. Ct. 2329; 138 L. Ed. 2d 874 (1997) Facts—The Communications Decency Act of 1996 (CDA) contained provisions designed to protect minors from “indecent” and “patently offensive” communications via the…

New York v. Ferber, 458 U.S. 747; 102 S. Ct. 2248; 73 L. Ed. 3d 1113 (1982) Facts—New York prohibited knowing depiction of sexual performances by children or distribution thereof. Ferber, a proprietor of a Manhattan book- store, sold two…

Miller v. California, 413 U.S.15; 93 S. Ct. 2607; 37 L. Ed. 2d 419 (1973) Facts—California applied its criminal statutes to sexually explicit materials sent through the mails to persons who did not request them. Question—May a state enforce obscenity…

Ginzburg v. United States, 383 U.S. 463; 86 S. Ct. 942; 16 L. Ed. 2d 31 (1966) Facts—Ralph Ginzburg was convicted of violating the federal obscenity statute by producing and selling obscene publications. The government charged that Ginzburg’s advertising openly…