Paris Adult Theatre v. Slaton District Attorney

Petitioner

Paris Adult Theatre, et al.

Respondent

Lewis R. Slaton, District Attorney, et al.

Petitioner's Claim

That the adult films that they were showing were protected under First Amendment Rights.

Chief Lawyer for Petitioner

Thomas E. Moran

Chief Lawyer for Respondent

Robert Eugene Smith

Justices for the Court

Harry A. Blackmun, Warren E. Burger (writing for the Court), Lewis F. Powell, Jr., William H. Rehnquist, Byron R. White

Justices Dissenting

William J. Brennan, Jr., Potter Stewart, Thurgood Marshall, William O. Douglas

Place

Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision

21 June 1973

Decision

The Court ruled that obscene films did not automatically get First Amendment protection simply because they are shown for adults only.

Related Cases

• Roth v. United States, 354 U.S. 476 (1957).
• Redrup v. New York, 386 U.S. 767 (1967).

Sources

Green, Jonathon. The Encyclopedia of Censorship. New York: Facts on File, 1990.

Further Readings

• Cushman, Robert F. Leading Constitutional Decisions Prentice Hall. 1977.
• "Hard-Nosed About Hard-Core." Time, July 2, 1973.
• Johnson, John W., ed. Historic U.S. Court Cases, 1690-1990: An Encyclopedia. New York: Garland Publishing, 1992.