Page:Gent Magazine v. State.pdf/5

478 of the court, agreed upon the "national community" standard. The case was decided by a six to three vote, in which the lower court was reversed. There was no court opinion. Mr. Justice Brennan announced the decision, and wrote an opinion. Mr. Justice Goldberg concurred in Mr. Justice Brennan's opinion, but also filed a separate opinion of his own. Justices Douglas, Black, and Stewart conciirred in the judgment of reversal, the first two on the basis that the Constitution does not permit censorship at all, and Mr. Justice Stewart, in a separate opinion, stating that the constitution only permits censorship of "hard core pornography;" further, "I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that short-hand description; and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it, and the motion picture involved in this case is not that." Mr. Justice White concurred in the judgment for reversal, without expressing a reason. The Chief Justice, joined by Justice Clark, in a dissenting opinion, rejected the national standard, which Justices Brennan and Goldberg stated the court must apply. Mr. Justice Harlan likewise dissented, saying:

" The more I see of these obsenityobscenity [sic] cases the more convinced I become that in permitting the States wide, but not federally unrestricted, scope in this field, while holding the Federal Government with a tight rein, lies the best promise for achieving a sensible accommodation between the public interest sought to be served by obscenity laws and protection of genuine rights of free expression.  "

Thus, it appears that only two justices of the prevailing six adopted the national community standard. It is therefore evident that a majority of the court, whatever may be the thinking, have not flatly said that the national standard must be applied. Much has been written about the Jacobellis case, and we think one of the