Marvin Miller, Covina Publishing, Inc., a Corporation Doing Business as Collector's Publications v. United States

431 F.2d 655 Marvin MILLER, Covina Publishing, Inc., a corporation doing business as Collector's Publications, Appellants, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee. No. 23935. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. September 16, 1970. Rehearing Denied October 26, 1970. Burton Marks (argued), of Marks, Sherman & London, Los Angeles, Cal., for appellants. Edward J. Wallin (argued), Ass't. U. S. Atty., Wm. Matthew Byrne, U. S. Atty., Robert L. Brosio, Chief, Criminal Division, Los Angeles, Cal., for appellee. Before BARNES, KILKENNY and TRASK, Circuit Judges. TRASK, Circuit Judge: 1 Marvin Miller and Covina Publishing, Inc., a corporation controlled by Miller and doing business as Collector's Publications, bring this appeal from their convictions at jury trial for having mailed obscene matter in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1461 and for having transported obscene matter in interstate commerce in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1462 . 2 A grand jury indicted appellants on twenty-one counts of violating sections 1461 and 1462. The trial court granted a judgment of acquittal on one count. The jury returned verdicts of guilty on eight counts and not guilty on the remaining twelve…

Marvin Miller and Covina Publishing, Inc., a corporation controlled by Miller and doing business as Collector’s Publications, bring this appeal from their convictions at jury trial for having mailed obscene matter in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1461 and for having transported obscene matter in interstate commerce in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1462 .

A grand jury indicted appellants on twenty-one counts of violating sections 1461 and 1462. The trial court granted a judgment of acquittal on one count. The jury returned verdicts of guilty on eight counts and not guilty on the remaining twelve counts. The jury specifically found appellants guilty of mailing and transporting two obscene books, “Restless Love” and “Misfortunes of Mary”, one obscene magazine, “The Name Is Bonnie”, and of mailing obscene advertisements for these and other publications. We affirm.

(1) Constitutionality of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1461 and, 1462

Appellants challenge the constitutionality of the statutes under which they were convicted on the ground that the words, obscene, lewd, filthy, indecent and vile, employed in one or both of the statutes are vague and imprecise.

The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of…

(concurring) :

I concur. The widely and even carelessly disseminated material was pornographic, and its appeal was to a prurient interest. The pandering that dominated the distribution of material in Ginzburg, supra, clearly existed here.

*660 Until the Supreme Court finds that 18 U.S.C. §§ 1461 and 1462 are unconstitutional, no matter who may receive the mailings, convictions based, upon such indiscriminate and wholesale mailings of obscene material with reckless disregard of the identity and age of recipients must be

Affirmed.