Virginia v. American Booksellers Assn., Inc.

The courts below declared unconstitutional the following Virginia statute: “It shall be unlawful for any person ... to knowingly display for commercial purpose in a manner whereby juveniles may examine and peruse” visual or written material that “depicts sexually explicit nudity, sexual conduct or sadomasochistic abuse and which is harmful to juveniles.” Va. Code § 18.2-391(a) (Supp. 1987). The unique factual and procedural setting of this case leads us to conclude that an authoritative construction of the Virginia statute by the Virginia Supreme Court would substantially aid our review of…