Miller+v.+California

Evan Thomas

This case set the determination of how the government can judge speech's merit. To be obscene, the work, taken as a whole, must be judged by "the average person applying contemporary community standards" to appeal to the "purient interest" or to depict "in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by applicable state law" and to lack "serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value."

Miller sent mailings widely to California which contained obscene material, and the police received numerous complaints. Miller appealed the case to the Supreme Court on the grounds that his mail was an extension of his free speech, but the court held that the obscene material was not applicable to his rights.

Would these mailings be tolerable if they were only directed toward citizens who did not complain?