State v. Marshall

The majority holds that obscenity is not protected speech under the Tennessee Constitution. And, so, the right most essential to personal dignity and democratic government, the freedom of expression, is handed into the willing grasp of the censor. That arbiter of truth can by mere declaration, upon the claim of morality and good taste, abolish what has been conceived to be a constitutional right. Small effort is made to conceal the judicial abdication. The issue is cast as no-issue, the plea is precedent, and the rationale is self-fulfilling.

The majority avoids any discussion of the essential…