the reader". He wanted to appeal the case. He received a very pessimistic opinion from a fellow lawyer who felt that while the issue might not actually be "obscene" public prejudice against homosexuals was so strong that no judge would have the courage to go against it no matter what his personal opinion might be and that this fear and prejudice would extend to the very top. Mr. Julber could not believe that this would hold true in the higher courts. The case was appealed to the Federal District Court in Los Angeles with Judge Thurmond Clarke presiding, and reappealed to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals of San Francisco with Appelate Judges Barnes, Hamley and Ross presiding. These latter judges found the issue to be "obviously obscene" and took ten pages to do so. Judge Barnes was upset by the line in Brother Grundy's poem "ins and outs with various scouts" that had not occurred to Mr. Julber before as being intended as a double entendre. Others were disturbed by a woman kissing a woman. Mr. Julber had not believed that irrationality would extend that far, but still believed in the U.S. Supreme Court and wished to appeal to this court no matter what the consequences. Some of the more timid members of ONE, Inc., were persuaded by Mr. Julber's eloquence on the subject and it was voted unanimously to have him appeal the case to the highest court of the land. This was done.
Mr. Julber filed a petition of Certioria, a plea to be heard (it is something of an honor even to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court). The Supreme Court is not intended as a court that dispenses "justice". The lower courts are supposed to do that. The Supreme Court is only supposed to correct serious legal errors committed in the lower courts. The Solicitor General also submitted his brief on behalf of the Post Office. Fellow lawyers' opinions varied from the "too hot to handle" class to the "not important enough to handle". Mr. Julber could hardly go along with the latter opinion. It was very important because there were no former U.S. Supreme Court decisions on homosexual life depicted in literature.
The Petition was filed in June, 1957. There was no announcement either way as to whether the case would be
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