McKinney v. Parsons

Mr. Justice Brennan, with whom Mr. Justice Stewart and Mr. Justice Marshall concur,

dissenting.

Petitioner was convicted in the Circuit Court of Jefferson County, Ala., of violating the obscenity ordinance of the city of Birmingham. Birmingham Ordinance No. 67-2, § 3, provides in pertinent part:

“It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly . . . exhibit, distribute or have in his possession with intent to distribute, exhibit, sell or offer for sale ... any obscene matter.”

As used in Ordinance No. 67-2, “obscene” meant at the time of the alleged offenses:

“that to the average person, applying…