United States v. Thomas E. Gower

This case involved an appeal from a conviction, after trial by the court, of a violation of 22 D.C.Code § 2001(a)(1) for possession and sale of obscene photographs and films. 1 The photographs and film showed nude males and females engaged in explicit sexual intercourse, fellatio, cunnilingus and masturbation. The principal issue on appeal to this court was that the Constitution preclud ed punishment for private sales of such materials to a willing adult purchaser.

This court affirmed the conviction without opinion, noting in its per cur-iam judgment:

[A] constitutional claim based on privacy…