1958 United States Supreme Court case
One, Inc. v. Olesen, 355 U.S. 371 (1958), was a landmark decision of the US Supreme Court for LGBT rights in the United States. It was the first U.S. Supreme Court ruling to deal with homosexuality and the first to address free speech rights with respect to homosexuality. The Supreme Court reversed a lower court ruling that the gay magazine ONE violated obscenity laws, thus upholding constitutional protection for pro-homosexual writing.[1]
ONE, Inc. (now One Institute), a spinoff of the Mattachine Society, published the early pro-gay ONE: The Homosexual Magazine beginning in 1953.[2] After a campaign of harassment from the U.S. Post Office Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Los Angeles Postmaster Otto Olesen declared the October 1954 issue "obscene, lewd, lascivious and filthy" and therefore unmailable under the Comstock Act of 1873.[3] In that issue, the Post Office objected to "Sappho Remembered", a story of a lesbian's affection for a twenty-year-old "girl" who gives up her boyfriend to live with her, the lesbian, because it was "lustfully stimulating to the average homosexual reader"; "Lord Samuel and Lord Montagu", a poem about homosexual cruising that it said contained "filthy words"; and (3) an advertisement for The Circle, a magazine containing homosexual pulp romance stories, that would direct the reader to other obscene material.[4]
The magazine, represented by a young attorney who had authored the cover story in the October 1954 issue, Eric Julber,[5] brought suit in U.S. District Court seeking an injunction against the Postmaster. In March 1956, U.S. District Judge Thurmond Clarke ruled for the defendant. He wrote: "The suggestion advanced that homosexuals should be recognized as a segment of our people and be accorded special privilege as a class is rejected."[6] A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that decision unanimously in February 1957.[7] Julber filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court on June 13, 1957. On January 13, 1958, that court both accepted the case and, without hearing oral argument, issued a terse per curiam decision reversing the Ninth Circuit.[3] The decision, citing its June 24, 1957, landmark decision in Roth v. United States 354 U.S. 476 (1957), read 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.[8]
On the same day, the court issued a similar per curiam decision also citing Roth in Sunshine Book Co. v. Summerfield, which concerned the distribution of two nudist magazines.
One, Inc. v. Olesen was the first U.S. Supreme Court ruling to deal with homosexuality[6] and the first to address free speech rights with respect to homosexuality. The justices supporting the reversal were Frankfurter, Douglas, Clark, Harlan, and Whittaker.[3] As an affirmation of Roth, the case itself has proved most important for, in the words of one scholar, "its on-the-ground effects. By protecting ONE, the Supreme Court facilitated the flourishing of a gay and lesbian culture and a sense of community" at the same time as the federal government was purging homosexuals from its ranks.[5]
In its next issue, ONE told its readers: "For the first time in American publishing history, a decision binding on every court now stands. ... affirming in effect that it is in no way proper to describe a love affair between two homosexuals as constitut(ing) obscenity."[5]
- ^ Geidner, Chris (June 19, 2019). "The Court Cases That Changed L.G.B.T.Q. Rights". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
- ^ "History". www.onearchives.org. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
- ^ a b c Murdoch, Joyce; Price, Deb (May 8, 2002). "ONE Standard of Justice". Courting justice: gay men and lesbians v. the Supreme Court. Basic Books. pp. 27–50. ISBN 978-0-465-01514-6. Retrieved October 9, 2011.
- ^ William N. Eskridge Jr. (1997). "Privacy Jurisprudence and the Apartheid of the Closet, 1946–1961". Florida State University Law Review. Archived from the original on May 12, 2008. Retrieved January 14, 2008.
- ^ a b c Savage, David G. (January 11, 2015). "Supreme Court faced gay rights decision in 1958 over 'obscene' magazine". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 12, 2015. Julber's article was "You Can't Print It!", about how to steer clear of government censorship policies. He represented One, Inc. pro bono. In 2015 he was 90 years old and living in Carmel, California, with his wife.
- ^ a b Rauch, Jonathan (February 5, 2014). "The unknown Supreme Court decision that changed everything for gays". Washington Post. Retrieved January 12, 2015.
- ^ One, Inc. v. Olesen, 241 F.2d 772 (9th Cir. 1957).
- ^ One, Inc. v. Oleson, 355 U.S. 371, 372 (1958), citing Roth v. United States, 354 U.S. 476 (1957).
- Mencimer, Stephanie (July 2001), "Review: Courting Justice", Washington Monthly, ISSN 0043-0633, retrieved January 14, 2008, describing
- Bianco, David (August 2, 1999), "One Magazine", Planet Out, archived from the original on December 12, 2007, retrieved January 14, 2008
- Paul, James C. N.; Schwartz, Murray L. (1957), "Obscenity in the Mails: A Comment on Some Problems of Federal Censorship", University of Pennsylvania Law Review, 106 (2): 214–253, doi:10.2307/3310237, JSTOR 3310237
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
- Text of One, Inc. v. Olesen, 355 U.S. 371 (1958) is available from: Justia Library of Congress
- One, Inc. v. Olesen, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, February 27, 1957
- 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, archived from the original on September 21, 2008, retrieved January 14, 2008
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- Rosen v. United States (1896)
- United States v. One Book Called Ulysses (S.D.N.Y. 1933)
- Roth v. United States (1957)
- One, Inc. v. Olesen (1958)
- Smith v. California (1959)
- Marcus v. Search Warrant (1961)
- MANual Enterprises, Inc. v. Day (1962)
- Jacobellis v. Ohio (1964)
- Quantity of Books v. Kansas (1964)
- Ginzburg v. United States (1966)
- Memoirs v. Massachusetts (1966)
- Redrup v. New York (1967)
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- Stanley v. Georgia (1969)
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- Kois v. Wisconsin (1972)
- Miller v. California (1973)
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- United States v. 12 200-ft. Reels of Film (1973)
- Jenkins v. Georgia (1974)
- Southeastern Promotions, Ltd. v. Conrad (1975)
- Erznoznik v. City of Jacksonville (1975)
- Young v. American Mini Theatres, Inc. (1976)
- Vance v. Universal Amusement Co., Inc. (1980)
- American Booksellers Ass'n, Inc. v. Hudnut (7th Cir. 1985)
- People v. Freeman (Cal. 1988)
- United States v. X-Citement Video, Inc. (1994)
- Reno v. ACLU (1997)
- United States v. Playboy Entertainment Group, Inc. (2000)
- City of Los Angeles v. Alameda Books, Inc. (2002)
- Ashcroft v. ACLU I (2002)
- United States v. American Library Ass'n (2003)
- Ashcroft v. ACLU II (2004)
- Nitke v. Gonzales (S.D.N.Y. 2005)
- United States v. Williams (2008)
- American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression v. Strickland (6th Cir. 2009)
- United States v. Kilbride (9th Cir. 2009)
- United States v. Stevens (2010)
- Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Ass'n (2011)
- FCC v. Fox Television Stations, Inc. (2012)
- Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton (2025)
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- Valentine v. Chrestensen (1942)
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- Pittsburgh Press Co. v. Pittsburgh Comm'n on Human Relations (1973)
- Lehman v. Shaker Heights (1974)
- Goldfarb v. Virginia State Bar (1975)
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- Carey v. Population Services International (1977)
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- In re Primus (1978)
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- Consol. Edison Co. v. Public Serv. Comm'n (1980)
- Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. v. Public Service Commission (1980)
- Metromedia, Inc. v. San Diego (1981)
- In re R.M.J. (1982)
- Hoffman Estates v. The Flipside, Hoffman Estates, Inc. (1982)
- Zauderer v. Off. of Disciplinary Counsel of Supreme Court of Ohio (1985)
- Pacific Gas & Electric Co. v. Public Utilities Comm'n of California (1986)
- Posadas de Puerto Rico Assoc. v. Tourism Co. of Puerto Rico (1986)
- San Francisco Arts & Athletics, Inc. v. U.S. Olympic Committee (1987)
- Shapero v. Kentucky Bar Association (1988)
- Riley v. Nat'l Fed'n of the Blind (1988)
- State University of New York v. Fox (1989)
- Peel v. Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission of Illinois (1990)
- City of Cincinnati v. Discovery Network (1993)
- Edenfield v. Fane (1993)
- United States v. Edge Broadcasting Co. (1993)
- Ibanez v. Florida Dept. of Business and Professional Regulation, Bd. of Accountancy (1994)
- Lebron v. National Railroad Passenger Corp. (1995)
- Rubin v. Coors Brewing Co. (1995)
- Florida Bar v. Went For It, Inc. (1995)
- 44 Liquormart, Inc. v. Rhode Island (1996)
- Glickman v. Wileman Brothers & Elliot, Inc. (1997)
- Greater New Orleans Broadcasting Assn., Inc. v. United States (1999)
- Los Angeles Police Department v. United Reporting Publishing Co. (1999)
- United States v. United Foods Inc. (2001)
- Lorillard Tobacco Co. v. Reilly (2001)
- Thompson v. Western States Medical Center (2002)
- Nike, Inc. v. Kasky (2003)
- Johanns v. Livestock Marketing Ass'n (2005)
- Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Assn. v. Brentwood Academy (2007)
- Milavetz, Gallop & Milavetz, P.A. v. United States (2010)
- Jerman v. Carlisle, McNellie, Rini, Kramer & Ulrich LPA (2010)
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