Obscenity Rules: Roth v. United States and the Long Struggle over Sexual Expression eBook

$18.00

. some, he was "America’s leading smut king," hauled into court repeatedly over thirty years for peddling obscene publications through the mail.

Digital edition, delivered to your inbox within 24 hours of payment. No shipping, no delivery charge.

About this eTextbook

. some, he was "America's leading smut king," hauled into court repeatedly over thirty years for peddling obscene publications through the mail. But when Samuel Roth appealed a 1956 conviction, he forced the Supreme Court to finally come to grips with a problem that had plagued both American society and constitutional law for longer than he had been in business. For while the facts of Roth v.

United States were unexceptional, its constitutional issues would define the relationship of obscenity to the First Amendment. The Supreme Court's 6-3 decision in Roth for the first time tried to definitively rule on the issue of obscenity in American life and law—and failed. In this first book-length examination of the case, Whitney Strub lays out the history of obscenity's meaning as a legal concept, highlights the influence of antivice crusaders like Anthony Comstock and John Sumner, and chronicles the shadowy career that led Roth to spend nearly a decade of his life imprisoned for the allegedly obscene materials that he sent through the mails.

Strub then unwraps the events that produced Roth v. United States, placing the trial in the context of its times—the Kinsey Reports, the Kefauver hearings, free speech debates—by using Roth's own private papers along with the records of the various prosecutions and the memos of the justices. The significance of Roth, as Strub reveals, lay in the two faces of Justice William Brennan's majority opinion-which on the one hand reflected the liberalizing attitude toward sexual matters in mid-century America, but on the other kept "obscene" expressions beyond First Amendment protection.

Because that ruling points up the contradictions of a society where the prurient and repressive commingle uncomfortably, Strub shows how Roth says much more about American sexual values than Brennan's written words necessarily acknowledged. In our era of internet pornography and Fifty Shades of Grey, it may be difficult to imagine a time when obscenity was a matter for the courts. As Strub tracks the legacy of Roth and obscenity law through the ongoing policing of acceptable sexuality into the twenty-first century, his riveting narrative brings those times to life and helps readers navigate the fine line between what is socially acceptable and what is criminally obscene.

Obscenity Rules: Roth v. ISBNs for Obscenity Rules are 9780700619757, 0700619755 and the print ISBNs are 9780700619375, 0700619372. Additional ISBNs include 9780700619368.

Publication details

Author: Whitney Strub
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
Additional ISBN: 9780700619368

What you receive

A licensed digital edition of this title, supplied as PDF or EPUB. The format is set by the publisher, so email us the ISBN before ordering and we will confirm which one it is.
Delivered to the email address on your order as a secure download link, usually within minutes and always within 24 hours of payment.
Download links do not expire and there is no cap on re-downloads. Readable on any computer, tablet or phone, online or offline.
This is a digital edition. Nothing is printed, packed or posted, and there is no delivery charge.

Delivery

Free on every order. This is a digital edition. Nothing is printed, packed or posted, so there is no delivery charge, no minimum order and no handling fee. The only thing added at checkout is 5% sales tax, shown on its own line before you confirm.

Sent to the email address on your order, as a secure download link.
Usually within a few minutes of payment clearing.
Guaranteed within 24 hours, including weekends and holidays.
Links do not expire and there is no cap on re-downloads.
Delivered worldwide. No customs charge or import duty can arise.

Format. Titles are supplied as PDF or EPUB, set by the publisher. If the format matters to you, email us the eText ISBN before ordering and we will confirm which it is, normally the same business day.

Nothing arrived? Check your spam and promotions folders first. If it is not there 24 hours after payment, email us your order number and we will resend it. Full detail on the Delivery Policy.

Refunds

A digital file cannot be posted back, so there is no return process. There are situations that are refundable and situations that are not, and both are stated plainly.

Refunded in full, within 30 days of the order:

The file is corrupt, truncated, or will not open in a reader that supports its format.
Content is missing from the edition you were sold.
The wrong title was delivered.
The edition, eText ISBN, author or format does not match this page.
You were charged twice for the same title.
Nothing was delivered and we cannot reissue it.

Not downloaded yet? Cancel within 14 days for a full refund, no reason needed.

Not refundable: a title you downloaded and then decided you did not want, a file that does not suit your device where we did not say it would, buying the wrong edition when this page stated it correctly, and publisher printing or copy limits.

Approved refunds are issued within 2 to 5 business days to the card that paid. Full detail on the Returns & Refund Policy.

Payment

Checkout runs on Stripe. We accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover and JCB, credit or debit. That list is complete. No account is needed; guest checkout is available on every order.

What you are charged: the price on this page, plus 5% sales tax. Delivery is $0.00. There is no handling fee, no processing fee and no card surcharge. The order summary shows the full total before you confirm, and that figure is what leaves your account.

Nothing recurring. One charge per order. No subscription, no membership, no trial that converts, no saved-card auto-billing.

Security. Card numbers never reach us. Payment details are entered into fields hosted by Stripe, a PCI DSS Level 1 provider. We can see only the card brand, the last four digits and whether the payment succeeded. The whole site runs over HTTPS.

Prices are in US dollars. A card issued outside the United States is converted by your own bank at its own rate. Full detail on the Payment Policy.

About this eTextbook

. some, he was "America’s leading smut king," hauled into court repeatedly over thirty years for peddling obscene publications through the mail. But when Samuel Roth appealed a 1956 conviction, he forced the Supreme Court to finally come to grips with a problem that had plagued both American society and constitutional law for longer than he had been in business. For while the facts of Roth v.

United States were unexceptional, its constitutional issues would define the relationship of obscenity to the First Amendment. The Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision in Roth for the first time tried to definitively rule on the issue of obscenity in American life and law—and failed. In this first book-length examination of the case, Whitney Strub lays out the history of obscenity’s meaning as a legal concept, highlights the influence of antivice crusaders like Anthony Comstock and John Sumner, and chronicles the shadowy career that led Roth to spend nearly a decade of his life imprisoned for the allegedly obscene materials that he sent through the mails.

Strub then unwraps the events that produced Roth v. United States, placing the trial in the context of its times—the Kinsey Reports, the Kefauver hearings, free speech debates—by using Roth’s own private papers along with the records of the various prosecutions and the memos of the justices. The significance of Roth, as Strub reveals, lay in the two faces of Justice William Brennan’s majority opinion-which on the one hand reflected the liberalizing attitude toward sexual matters in mid-century America, but on the other kept "obscene" expressions beyond First Amendment protection.

Because that ruling points up the contradictions of a society where the prurient and repressive commingle uncomfortably, Strub shows how Roth says much more about American sexual values than Brennan’s written words necessarily acknowledged. In our era of internet pornography and Fifty Shades of Grey, it may be difficult to imagine a time when obscenity was a matter for the courts. As Strub tracks the legacy of Roth and obscenity law through the ongoing policing of acceptable sexuality into the twenty-first century, his riveting narrative brings those times to life and helps readers navigate the fine line between what is socially acceptable and what is criminally obscene.

Obscenity Rules: Roth v. ISBNs for Obscenity Rules are 9780700619757, 0700619755 and the print ISBNs are 9780700619375, 0700619372. Additional ISBNs include 9780700619368.

Publication details

Author: Whitney Strub
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
Additional ISBN: 9780700619368

What you receive

A licensed digital edition of this title, supplied as PDF or EPUB. The format is set by the publisher, so email us the ISBN before ordering and we will confirm which one it is.
Delivered to the email address on your order as a secure download link, usually within minutes and always within 24 hours of payment.
Download links do not expire and there is no cap on re-downloads. Readable on any computer, tablet or phone, online or offline.
This is a digital edition. Nothing is printed, packed or posted, and there is no delivery charge.