Osborne v. Ohio - Significance, Osborne's Pictures, The Subjectivity Of Words

Appellant

Clyde Osborne

Appellee

State of Ohio

Appellant's Claim

That an Ohio law banning the possession of child pornography violated the First Amendment.

Chief Lawyer for Appellant

S. Adele Shank

Chief Lawyer for Appellee

Ronald J. O'Brien

Justices for the Court

Harry A. Blackmun, Anthony M. Kennedy, Sandra Day O'Connor, William H. Rehnquist, Antonin Scalia, Byron R. White (writing for the Court)

Justices Dissenting

William J. Brennan, Jr., Thurgood Marshall, John Paul Stevens

Place

Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision

18 April 1990

Decision

The Court upheld the constitutionality of the Ohio law, but ordered Osborne to be retried because of procedural errors during the trial.

Related Cases

• Stanley v. Georgia, 394 U.S. 557 (1969).
• Miller v. California, 413 U.S. 15 (1973).
• New York v. Ferber, 458 U.S. 747 (1982).
• Massachusetts v. Oakes, 491 U.S. 576 (1989).

Further Readings

• Goodman, Allison C. "Two Critical Evidentiary Issues in Child Sexual Abuse Cases." American Crominal Law Review, Spring 1995, pp. 855.
• Hall, Kermit L., ed. The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States. New York: Oxford Press, 1992.
• The New York Times. 19 April 1990.
• The Washington Post. 19 April 1990.