Knowles v. United States
Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
In Error to the District Court of the United States for the District of South Dakota. The defendant was indicted for a violation of section 3893 of the Revised Statutes (U. S. Comp. St. 1901, p. 2058), as amended, which prohibits the use of the mails for the circulation of obscene writings. He publishes at Deadwood, S. D., a weekly paper called “The Lantern.”
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In Error to the District Court of the United States for the District of South Dakota. The defendant was indicted for a violation of section 3893 of the Revised Statutes (U. S. Comp. St. 1901, p. 2058), as amended, which prohibits the use of the mails for the circulation of obscene writings. He publishes at Deadwood, S. D., a weekly paper called “The Lantern.” The issue of March 30, 1907, contained the following article, written by him: “A good illustration of the beauties of our social system was recently given when ‘society’ in Lead and Deadwood was convulsed by the news that a most sweet…
1Opinion of the CourtAmid.on, District Judge
(after stating the facts as above). Upon this record, the only question before us is whether the article is obscene, lewd, or lascivious, within the meaning of the statute. If it was fairly open to the construction of falling within either of these classes, it was the plain duty of the court to submit the question of its character to the jury. In all indictments under this statute there is a preliminary" question for the court to say whether the writing could by any reasonable judgment be held to come within the prohibition of the law. That *411is like the question of law in a case of negligence…
2Cases cited11 opinions
- Rosen v. United StatesSupreme Court of the United States · 1896
- Davis v. BeasonSupreme Court of the United States · 1890
- Swearingen v. United StatesSupreme Court of the United States · 1896
- In Re RapierSupreme Court of the United States · 1892
- United States v. HarmonDistrict Court, D. Kansas · 1891
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3Cited by33 opinions
- Parmelee v. United StatesCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit · 1940
- Commonwealth v. IsenstadtMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1945
- United States v. DennettCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit · 1930
- Duncan v. United StatesCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · 1931
- United States v. StickrathDistrict Court, S.D. Ohio · 1917
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