People v. Finkelstein

Defendants, in a consolidated appeal from unanimously affirmed convictions of violations of section 1141 of the Penal Law, contend, inter alia, that the statute is violative of the Constitution of the United States in that it does not expressly require scienter. We do not agree.

Section 1141 provides in part that “A person who sells * * * or has in his possession with intent to sell * * * any obscene * * * book # * * [i]s guilty of a misdemeanor”. It is our- firm opinion, on this our first opportunity to construe the statute, in this respect, that the definition of the crime is instinct with…