Victory for

BY JOHN LOGAN

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tion, One carried the battle to the nation's highest court about a year ago.

The Court cited the Roth case of June 1957 in arriving at its decision. In this case it had ruled that obscenity must be interpreted by stricter standards, and essentially called for a more rig orous and precise definition of "obscenity.

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The various members of the Supreme Court may have joined in the unanimous action for different reasons, but it is clear, according to a news release from One, Inc., that One magazine did not appear obscene to the Court.

J

Eric Julber, Los Angeles attorney for One, Inc., filed the brief with the Court.

SUPREME COURT

LIFTS BAN IN

UNANIMOUS

DECISION

1954

OCTOBER TWENTY-FIVE CENTS

>

In a unanimous decision the U. S.Supreme Court reversed a Post Office ban on the mailing of One, the homosexual magazine, on January 13, 1958, in Washington, D. C. Also lifted by the unanmous decision of the Court was a ban on two nudist magazines, Sunshine & Health and Sun Magazine.

The Court appears to have found that the magazines simply were not obscene, thus reversing lower Federal Court decisions resulting from charges made by postal officials. In the case of One, the ban specifically applied to the October 1954 issue only. Cited in the original charges by Los Angeles postoffice were an article, "Sappho Remembered,” a poem, "Lord Samuel and Lord Montagu,'' and the general tone of the magazine, which carried a series of drawings under the heading, "Gay Menagerie," and an article on the law of mailable material headed, "You Can't Print That." The postoffice stand was that it couldn't be mailed.

One, Inc. fought the charges in both a Federal Court in Los Ang eles and a Federal Court of Appeals at San Francisco, where it lost both counts. With shoestring financing but strong determina

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mattachine REVIEW

Also on the legal front in January 1958 come another important announcement: Government Decides Not to Contest Court Ruling to Admit Pornographic Material for Use in Kinsey Research Work (From the Portland Oregonian)

NEW YORKThe fed. eral government has accepted a new legal standard for obscenity and agreed to let the Kinsey institute import some concededly pornographic pictures, books and other objects.

The decision was hailed here Saturday by the law firm which represented the institute in a government law suit as "a victory for the mind of man."

The government's suit was directed against Indiana university's institute for Sex Research incorporated. The insti tute was founded by the late Dr. Alfred C. Kinsey.

The new standard held that the material is not legally ob scene because it is unlikely to arouse the "prurient interest" of those who will see it.

The official position previously had been that a thing is obscene in itself, no matter who is going to see or read it.

The treasury department quickly followed up the de-

cision with a public statement that the new standard covers admission of materials "for genuine scientific use only."

The decision, the treasury said, "does not mean the bars are down" for pornographic imports intended for public dis tribution.

Customs Ralph Kelly said:

Commissioner

"The ruling is of very limited application. Imports of pornographic and obscene materials intended for the general public continue to be illegal, and will be seized and de stroyed by customs if attempted."

The material involved had been seized by the customs bu reau over the last seven years on its way to the institute.

A government suit to have the material destroyed was rejected here last November 1 by Federal District Judge Ed. mund L. Palmieri. He ruled that an object is not legally ob5