Brockett v. Spokane Arcades, Inc.

The question in these cases is whether the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit erred in invalidating in its entirety a Washington statute aimed at preventing and punishing the publication of obscene materials.

On April 1, 1982, the Washington state moral nuisance law became effective. Wash. Rev. Code §§7.48A.010-7.48A.900 (1983).1 It sets forth a comprehensive scheme establishing criminal and civil penalties for those who deal in obscenity or prostitution. The statute declares to be a “moral nuisance” any place “where lewd films are publicly exhibited as a regular course of business” and…