|
Marks v. United States, 430 U.S. 188 (1977)
Contents:
Show Summary
Hide Summary
General SummaryThis case is from a collection containing the full text of over 16,000 Supreme Court cases from 1793 to the present. The body of Supreme Court decisions are, effectively, the final interpretation of the Constitution. Only an amendment to the Constitution can permanently overturn an interpretation and this has happened only four times in American history.
Marks v. United States, 430 U.S. 188 (1977)
MR. JUSTICE STEVENS, concurring in part an dissenting in part.
There are three reasons which, in combination, persuade me that this criminal prosecution is constitutionally impermissible. First, as the Court’s opinion recognizes, this "statute regulates expression and implicates First Amendment values." Ante at 196. However distasteful these materials are to some of us, they are nevertheless a form of communication and entertainment acceptable to a substantial segment of society; otherwise, they would have no value in the marketplace. Second, the statute is predicated on the somewhat illogical premise that a person may be prosecuted criminally for providing another with material he has a constitutional right to possess. See Stanley v. Georgia, 394 U.S. 557. Third, the present constitutional standards, both substantive and procedural,* which apply to these prosecutions are so intolerably vague that evenhanded enforcement of the law is a virtual impossibility. Indeed, my brief experience on the Court has persuaded me that grossly disparate treatment of similar offenders is a characteristic of the criminal enforcement of obscenity law. Accordingly, while I agree with everything said in the Court’s opinion, I am unable to join its judgment remanding the case for a new trial.
Contents:
Chicago: John Paul Stevens, "Stevens, J., Concurring and Dissenting," Marks v. United States, 430 U.S. 188 (1977) in 430 U.S. 188 Original Sources, accessed February 14, 2025, http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=GCYUKG1W8WGZ4BB.
MLA: Stevens, John Paul. "Stevens, J., Concurring and Dissenting." Marks v. United States, 430 U.S. 188 (1977), in 430 U.S. 188, Original Sources. 14 Feb. 2025. http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=GCYUKG1W8WGZ4BB.
Harvard: Stevens, JP, 'Stevens, J., Concurring and Dissenting' in Marks v. United States, 430 U.S. 188 (1977). cited in 1977, 430 U.S. 188. Original Sources, retrieved 14 February 2025, from http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=GCYUKG1W8WGZ4BB.
|