Printed Poison (1960s)

[Music] n [Music] that's my town there partly the way it is partly the way I imagine it from out here it looks comfortable doesn't it prosperous even happy well for the most part it is except for the poison the rot the horribly toxic [Music] [Applause] abscess [Applause] [Music] that's Johnny [Applause] Morrison he's one of those already infected come on I'll show you [Music] take a look at what they're reading go on they won't even know you're [Music] there [Music] that's gion he's the owner here has been for about 2 and a half years now not exactly a candidate for the good citizens award at some time or other the whole Community has asked him to take that obscene stuff off his stand his response usually amounts to some form of dollar sign logic it's mys business I'll sell whatever makes a profit so instead of getting better the obscenity gets worse and worse if that's possible anymore if what's possible anymore what are you talking about you know exactly what I'm talking about Gary and I'm talking about you and your sewage all the refug collect here like a stopped up cess pool you put a price tag on it and you sell it without even batting an eye doesn't the smell of a bother you you don't like them don't B there they are the soul searing bacterias of a new [Music] disease look at them the girly in so-called nudest [Music] magazines magazines depicting lesbianism [Music] homosexuality [Music] sodomy trans fism [Music] sadism bestiality masochism all the abnormal perversions and pocket books just as vicious listen to the instructions handed out by some Publishers to their authors we need tough strong hard-hitting sex action fill books geared to the demands of today's and tomorrow's highly competitive market we basically seek offbeat sex with emphasis on deviation the more offbeat the better there's a demand for books about lesbians plot is secondary what we need is detailed Vivid sex action scenes every few pages the more the better we don't want four-letter words or too clinical a description but Within These limits it must be as strong and off feat as possible end quote and the parasite of it all the scavenger the Great American [Laughter] [Music] [Music] maggot yeah we've had complaints about gar before some worse than this then what happens now in all probability nothing nothing Lieutenant you can see for yourself these magazines and paperback are filthy and unclean and loose now I agree with you the poers of be don't agree with us you mean you won't help us I mean I can't my hands are tied now you can call it hopeless I call a stone wall it's all the same thing I don't don't understand how can you just sit there and say sure the stuff is rotten but don't throw it in my lap that's not exactly what I was trying to say then what look I have just so much time and this department has just so many men now you put them both together and there's not enough time or men to do the kind of job that has to be done but garion is wrong in what he's doing now there's got to be some way to to make him accountable for his action there is you get the district attorney to prosecute once he does that you can make the arrest but I warn you his experiences in cases like this have been pretty bitter and disappointing come on don't look so worried we haven't lost this thing yet got to be a wedge leverage point something the police and the district attorney won't shy away from it's got to be something of course sure why not we'll go through these books and magazines ourselves we'll prepare a synopsis better yet a chapter by chapter outline will condense the material then anybody spending a few minutes reading through them will see for themselves just how rotten this stuff really is come on here I want you to hear this Diane awakens in her cheap hotel room dreaming of a fierce hunger for a real live man but her boyfriend is in jail for having intercourse with her best girlfriend in a public theater Diane attempts masturbation but turns to an empty whiskey bottle instead she goes downstairs where she bribes the bartender for whiskey by exposing your to him he masturbates thean further bribes him and they engage in sexual intercourse behind the bar end first chapter but keep in mind there are 12 more just like this lots of work huh but it does take the burden off the police department and the district attorney now let's get this typed up and get it down to his [Music] [Applause] [Music] office please please no more phone calls thank you I am not trying to avoid my responsibilities I am merely saying that these obscenity cases are a pain in the neck we've tried them before and all that ever got us was a lot of bad press coverage but sir this is different now when I showed that material to your assistant Mr Lawson here he said for the first time for the first time he really had something to work with if Mr Lawson knew his law more thoroughly he would have known better than to encourage you now I appreciate the work you put into these outlines but the fact is this material is not prosecutable my office can do nothing with it I'm not trying to be a legal smart alexer but I think you're wrong this kind of obscenity is prosecutable Towson you don't know what you're talking about now if you feel some Kindred sympathy with this case go on down to garens pull all that junk off his stand talk to him I don't care now wait a minute you know the police force can't do that it's illegal the only way we can bring any action against people like garyan is in the courtroom where we can try his conduct before a jury that's been tried before remember and not very successfully I might a little matter of president or maybe you know something that nobody else knows is that it I know the Supreme Court of the United States makes it pretty plain what kind of cases they will uphold oh and what kind of a case is that we're talking about criminal cases remember yes I know then any case where the proper subject matter is presented and where the defendant is a court of due process and where that subject matter is passed upon by an impartial jury if those three elements of a case are handled carefully the Supreme Court will let the verdict of the lower courts stand that's all well and good but uh where's your Authority here I've been doing some research 21 cases since 1957 21 cases where convictions were obtained in the criminal courts were later denied review by the United States Supreme Court I'm sorry I don't follow you Mr Lawson uh what does denied review have to do with our case not very much it uh only means that the Supreme Court doesn't have to consider any case it doesn't want to that's a textbook rationalization and you know it in criminal cases like these dealing with free speech every Court must give a constitutional judgment so when the Supreme Court of the United States denies review it can only mean that they can see no infringement of the defendant's rights in other words the Supreme Court agrees with the lower court when it stated that the material was obscene now that to me means something all right Lawson uh suppose you show me some examples you have some don't you yes sir these are the exhibits involved in montr versus Maryland these girly magazines were found OB scene by a trial court and by the Supreme Court of Maryland the defendant appealed to the United States Supreme Court 1962 the Supreme Court denied review here are some of the magazines from from garans as bad or worse this paperback college for Sinners was involved in count one of New York versus freed a trial in the pelet court found the book of scene New York's highest court refused to review the conviction 1964 the Supreme Court of the United States denied review and this after some claimed that only hardcore material could be prosecuted now compare it with the books every kid can buy today at garyan well I must say that's very impressive your research abilities are very impressive Mr well I'm not through as yet sir so you better hang on there's more nude photographs involved in count two of the fre case same results is in count one wait a minute hold on while you're talking about nudes what about Nas magazines seems to me like I remember getting clobbered in Nas magazine case once well meaning no disrespect sir you probably got clobbered on the basis of your preparation and presentation of the case I say that because the Supreme Courts of Missouri and Nebraska both upheld n magazines have seen and that to me is significant look at these from garans same rotten [Applause] garbage Lawson I don't know whether you work me because you're arrogant or because you're right thank you sir another paperback fear of incest from a California versus Williamson a jury convicted a liquor store owner for selling it the appell at courts held the book obscene the Supreme Court of California refused to review the conviction 1964 the united state supreme court denied review and just for good measure sir I read the book well it's mild in contrast to these from garans oh yes and just for the record here's what Justice fox said about fear of incest in his opinion such literature quote serves to erode our moral standards and tends to bring about the moral decay of our people unquote these s masochistic materials are from garans Alberts of Roth Albert's Fame was Distributing material like this at the time of his arrest in 1957 the United States Supreme Court refused to reverse his conviction all right Lawson all right you may have a case and then again you may not it all depends as you've already noted on your presentation and the way you handle the jury and the arrest so go ahead and file onaran thank you sir thank you very much thank you oh remember one thing my permission doesn't carry any weight in court so don't look for it to keep you from getting ears beat [Applause] on I don't suppose I need to tell you lieutenant that how you and your men handle this arrest is of extreme importance to our case yes sir I know that's why I decided to be on this one myself chanler here will accompany me we're ready to move whenever you give the signal well right now 'll do just fine remember Lieutenant yes we know don't cred don't even tiptoe on garyan civil we're there simply to make an arrest on this complaint no Mass seizures no padlock good make it a simple and direct as possible you want to check us on procedure definitely we want nothing left to chance we arrive at garans and pretend to be ordinary customers we know what we want though and we secure a copy of sex spot and go to garyan to pay for it [Music] then we ask if he has anything a little metor than sex F if he does we buy that book also right an admission on his part that he is aware of the nature of the material he is selling would [Music] help after we get the two books from gion we tell him who we are we then explain to him that he is under arrest and is expected to appear in court on the 23rd of this month 10: a.m. while Mr garion is lashing out at the Injustice he is suffering collect circumstantial evidence that he knows the obscene character of the material he's selling photographs evidencing this should be taken when you finish remind Mr garion of his courtroom appointment and I'll take it from there Mr Lawson what happens after the arrest I'd bet my two weeks vacation that aran's lawyer moves for a dismissal of charges on a pre-trial motion I kind of hope he doesn't let me [Music] down your honor I'm for dismissal of the charge on the basis that the book SPS is constitutionally protected and that this charge has been improperly brought your honor we strenuously oppose the defendant's motion there is only one question to be decided here today and that is whether or not this is a jury question in other words this is a matter of free speech we think this case should be thrown out of court Mr Lawson you may continue thank you your honor the question to be decided here as I almost stated earlier is whether or not 12 people might conclude Beyond a reasonable doubt that this book is obscene that the dominant theme of the book taken as a whole is an appeal to pran interests that is all your honor are there any further statements either side would like to make it this time very well in cases like these gentlemen the law is that the court must decide whether there is sufficient question of obscenity for the case to go before the jury now I have read this book in my opinion I feel that there is ample evidence that a jury could uh find uh this book OB seen and so trial is set for um the 23rd hold it there please Mr Mr law I understand an arrest has been made on the basis of a complaint against garan for selling obscene books is this true are you going to prosecute yes gentlemen do both your questions excuse me Mr Lawson aren't you you afraid of treading on the golden calf for free speech no one's being denied his rights as a free citizen all we're saying is read the book read the outline even and then say if the publisher the author the distributor and the defendant haven't way overstepped the bounds of Reason decency and Free Speech excuse me oh hold it a minute aren't you the two that originally filed the complaint yes that's right may I ask why I mean why stir up a fuss about a few dirty books we felt it was necessary isn't pornographic literature of minor problem of no concern to the vast majority of us we are not talking about a small problem on the other side of the tracks we are talking about a multi-million dollar a year business about smut pedlers who stain every neighborhood of every city in the country with her slime we're talking about their victims about young kids caught between a Natural Curiosity about sex and the vicious perverted lust of pornography we're talking about adults too whose immaturities have been fed by such sex fantasies too often have their homes and marriages dissolved into guilt and failure but in the minds of the smut Fedders such mutilation of heart and soul is totally justified because it shows a propit we are talking here about such a peddler in our community one who does not consider any other man his brother or his concern one who would betray our community and every man woman and child in it for a pulfrey 30 pieces of silver or less well that's about it for us the judge will make his charge the jury will bring in a verdict all we can do now is wait and hope gentlemen you ready to hear the apology of a public servant it seems that Mr Lawson and you two had considerable greater Vision than I did but believe me gentlemen from now on I'm never going to allow legal rheumatism to set up in my office ever again thank thank you that means a lot thank you oh here I thought you might be interested in this go ahead read it out loud it um has come to the attention of this paper that there are still citizens within our community courageous enough to stand up for what they believe to be decent moral standards such Resolute action today is often considered a joke by the rest of us we salute these men and women for their backbone and they're concerned well it seems like you've been winning people over left and right for that I thank you well I guess the judge is ready to red discharge the jury ladies and gentlemen of the jury the test in every case like the one before you now is the effect of the book considered as a whole not upon any particular class but upon all of those whom it is likely to Rich you must ask yourselves does the book offend the common conscience of the community by present day standards should you find the material in this case meets the test for obscenity keep your fingers crossed have you seen this I hope that both of you realize that none of this would have been possible if you hadn't taken that first big step none of this I wish more people like you weren't afraid to get involved we truly need your help and support ladies and gentlemen of the jury have you reached a verdict we have your honor and what is that verdict we find the defendant guilty as charged ladies and gentlemen of the jury I wish to thank each of you for your services by your verdict you have made a significant contribution to your community welfare I also wish to thank the police and the prosecutor for the conscientious way in which they have carried out their duties better to illustrate what I mean let me quote Mr Earl Warren Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court there has been some tendency in dealing with this area of the law for enforcement agencies to do only that which is easy to do for instance to seize and Destroy books with only a minimum of protection as a result CTS are often presented with procedurally bad cases and in dealing with them appear to be acquiescing in the dissemination of obscenity but if cases were well prepared and were conducted with the appropriate concern for constitutional safeguards courts would not hesitate to enforce the laws against obscenity thus enforcement must realize there is no Royal Road to enforcement hard and conscientious work is required yes sir that's my town there but this time there isn't any infection or any disease and on behalf of my town I want to thank you for being around to help but there are other towns even your own take a long honest look at your town [Music] by now you must realize that you're the only one who can cause or demand the arrest prosecution and conviction of men like gion go on you can run away from me easily but you can never run away from your own responsibility it's yours now and forever to deny it is to deny all that is precious and dear to you all that is good in this life but if you avoid that responsibility then someday a generation must grow up to which perversion is commonplace and that generation will in its own per first anguish curse us all for having been so unconcerned you must decide my friend you must decide very soon