LONG
v.
UNITED STATES

U.S. | 1978-05-30
No. 77-1226
with whom Mr. Justice Stewart and Mr. Justice Marshall join,
436 U.S. 931 Supreme Court of the United States (1978) Positive Treatment
Cited by 14 cases
Topics
Community Standards Obscenity Forfeiture Proceedings First Amendment

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Dissent
Mr. Justice Brennan,

Mr. Justice Brennan,

with whom Mr. Justice Stewart and Mr. Justice Marshall join,

dissenting.

In September 1975, a friend of petitioner in West Germany-mailed petitioner a magazine, entitled Stellungen. A customs officer, assigned to the Post Office opened the envelope containing the magazine and forwarded it to customs officials who determined that the magazine was obscene, seized it, and began forfeiture proceedings against it under 19 U. S. C. § 13051 in the District Court for the Southern District of New York. Petitioner appeared in response to a notice of the impending forfeiture, see 19 CFR § 12.40 (1977), and argued that the magazine was not obscene under standards prevailing in Lancaster, Pa., petitioner’s home and the address to which the magazine was sent. The trial judge agreed with petitioner that the relevant inquiry related to community standards in Lancaster and dismissed the complaint since the United States had failed to produce evidence of the relevant community standard.2 The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed, holding that the relevant community standards were those at the port of entry, the Southern District of New York.

"Whatever the extent of the Federal Government’s power to bar the distribution of allegedly obscene material to juveniles or the offensive exposure of such material to unconsenting adults, the statute before us is . . . clearly overbroad and unconstitutional on its face.”

Accordingly, I would reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals.

In addition, the trial court ruled that the procedures afforded under § 1306 were insufficient to satisfy the First Amendment. Cf. Freedman v. Maryland, 380 U. S. 51 (1965). The Court of Appeals disagreed.

“All persons are prohibited from importing into the United States from any foreign country . . . any obscene book [or] pamphlet . . . and all such articles . . . shall be subject to seizure and forfeiture . . . .”

Footnotes
1 continue to adhere to the view expressed in my dissent in United States v. 12 200-Ft. Reels of Film, 413 U. S. 123, 138 (1973):

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Citator

Cited By (14 total)

  • United States v. Williams, 737 F.2d 594 (7th Cir. 1984)
    …rth amendment rights.” 565 F.Supp. at 362 (emphasis added). Under both Fourth Amendment principles, see United States v. Payner, 447 U.S. 727, 731 (1980), and Title III law, see United States v. Fury, 554 F. 2d 522, 525 (2d Cir.1977), cert. denied, 436 U.S. 931, 98 S.Ct. 2831, 56 L.Ed.2d 776 (1978), a defendant may not obtain the exclusion of evidence on the ground that someone else’s rights were violated. In other words, a defendant may assert only his own rights. Consequently, a defendant may not succes…
  • United States v. Martino, 664 F.2d 860 (2d Cir. 1981)
    …Cir.), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 981, 100 S.Ct. 484, 62 L.Ed.2d 408 (1979), 444 U.S. 1019, 100 S.Ct. 674, 62 L.Ed.2d 649 (1980); United States v. Fury, 554 F. 2d 522, 529-30 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 433 U.S. 910, 97 S.Ct. 2978, 53 L.Ed.2d 1095 (1977), 436 U.S. 931, 98 S.Ct. 2831, 56 L.Ed.2d 776 (1978); United States v. Hinton, 543 F. 2d 1002, 1011 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 980, 97 S.Ct. 493, 50 L.Ed.2d 589 (1976), 429 U.S. 1051, 97 S.Ct. 764, 50 L.Ed.2d 767, 429 U.S. 1066, 97 S.Ct. 796, 50 L.Ed.2d 783…
  • United States v. Brown, 761 F.2d 1272 (9th Cir. 1985)
    …1980). Our review of the district court’s determination under this statute is deferential. We review the findings of probable cause under the same standard as for a search warrant, United States v. Fury, 554 F. 2d 522, 530 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 436 U.S. 931, 98 S.Ct. 2831, 56 L.Ed.2d 776 (1978), and 433 U.S. 910, 97 S.Ct. 2978, 53 L.Ed.2d 1095 (1977), to be sure it had a substantial basis. United States v. Seybold, 726 F. 2d 502, 503 (9th Cir.1984); see also Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 238, 103 S.…

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