One, Inc. v. Olesen
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| One, Inc. v. Olesen | ||||||||||||
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| Decided January 13, 1958 |
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| Holding | ||||||||||||
| Pro-homosexual writing is not per se obscene. | ||||||||||||
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| Chief Justice: Earl Warren Associate Justices: Hugo Black, Felix Frankfurter, William O. Douglas, Harold Hitz Burton, Tom C. Clark, John Marshall Harlan II, William J. Brennan, Jr., Charles Evans Whittaker |
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| Case opinions | ||||||||||||
| Per curiam. |
One, Inc. v. Olesen was a historical decision for LGBT rights in the United States. ONE, Inc., a spinoff of the Mattachine Society, published the early pro-gay "ONE: The Homosexual Magazine" beginning in 1953. After a campaign of harassment from the United States Postal Service and FBI, the Postmaster of Los Angeles declared the October, 1954 issue obscene therefore unmailable under the Comstock laws.
The magazine sued. The first court decision (March 1956) sided with the post office, as did the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals (February 1957). To the surprise of all concerned, an appeal to the Supreme Court was not only accepted, but citing its recent landmark decision in Roth v. United States the Court, in a terse per curiam decision, reversed the 9th Circuit without even waiting for oral arguments. This marked the first time the Supreme Court had explicitly ruled on homosexuality.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- The decision, in its entirety:
"241 F.2d 772, reversed.
Eric Julber for petitioner.
Solicitor General Rankin, Acting Assistant Attorney General Leonard and Samuel D. Slade for respondent.
PER CURIAM.
The petition for writ of certiorari is granted and the judgment of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is reversed. Roth v. United States, 354 U.S. 476. [355 U.S. 371, 372]" - Burroway, Jim (January 13, 2008), “Today In History: A Spunky ONE And The U.S. Post Office”, Box Turtle Bulletin, <http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2008/01/13/1273>. Retrieved on 14 January 2008
- Mencimer, Stephanie (July, 2001), “Review: Courting Justice”, Washington Monthly, ISSN 0043-0633, <http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1316/is_2001_July/ai_76751693>. Retrieved on 14 January 2008, describing
- Murdoch, Joyce & Price, Deb (April 30, 2001), Courting Justice: Gay Men and Lesbians v. the Supreme Court, New York: Basic Books, pp. 582, ISBN 0465015131 (not referenced for this article, but it should be)
- Index of ONE Magazine issues
- Homosexuality and Free Speech: The 1958 ONE Case
- Rasmusen, Eric (September 13, 2006), “Homosexuality and Free Speech: The 1958 ONE Case”, Eric Rasmusen's Weblog, <http://www.rasmusen.org/x/2006/09/13/1331/>. Retrieved on 14 January 2008
- William N. Eskridge, Jr. (1997), “Privacy Jurisprudence and the Apartheid of the Closet, 1946–1961”, Florida State University Law Review 24 (4), <http://www.law.fsu.edu/Journals/lawreview/backissues/244.html>. Retrieved on 14 January 2008 "The Post Office determined that the October 1954 issue was obscene and lewd, based upon three articles within the issue: (1) Sappho Remembered, a story of a lesbian's affection for a twenty-year-old "girl" who gives up her boyfriend to live with the lesbian, was considered obscene because it was "lustfully stimulating to the average homosexual reader"; (2) Lord Samuel and Lord Montagu, a poem about homosexual toilet cruising on the part of several British peers, was considered obscene because of "filthy words" within it; and (3) an advertisement for The Circle, a magazine containing homosexual pulp romance stories, was thought to lead the reader to obscene material."
- Bianco, David (August 2, 1999), “One Magazine”, Planet Out, <http://www.planetout.com/news/history/archive/08021999.html>. Retrieved on 14 January 2008
