People v. . Eastman
New York Court of Appeals
Appeal from a judgment and order of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in the fourth judicial department, entered December 8, 1906, which affirmed a judgment of the Monroe County Court sustaining a demurrer to an indictment charging the defendant with the crime of selling and having in his possession with intent to sell printed matter of an indecent character. The facts, so far as material, are stated in the opinions.
1Opinion of the Court
The court is of opinion that the publication set forth in the indictment is improper, intemperate, unjustifiable and highly reprehensible, nevertheless it is not "indecent" as that word is employed in section 317 of the Penal Code.
The definitions given by the standard lexicographers are not controlling in deciding its legal signification; many meanings as used in ordinary conversation are also irrelevant.
Section 317 of the Penal Code is found in chapter VII, headed as follows: "Indecent Exposures, Obscene Exhibitions, Books and Prints, and Bawdy and Other Disorderly Houses."
Section 317 opens…
2Cited by32 opinions
- American Civil Liberties Union v. City of ChicagoIllinois Supreme Court · 1954
- In Re DavisCalifornia Court of Appeal · 1966
- Fawcett Publications, Inc. v. MorrisSupreme Court of Oklahoma · 1962
- United States v. DennettCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit · 1930
- People v. WendlingNew York Court of Appeals · 1932
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