Sayles v. Graham

449 F.2d 783 Shan SAYLES and Alix Cooperman, Co-partners, doing business under the name and style of Paris Theater-Phoenix, et al., Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. Milton GRAHAM, individually and as Mayor of the City of Phoenix, et al., Defendants-Appellants. No. 24474. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. October 5, 1971. John A. La Sota, Jr., Asst. City Atty. (argued), Robert J. Backstein, City Atty., Barry Leverant, Asst. City Atty., Ralph E. Mahowald, of O'Connor, Cavanagh, Anderson, Westover, Killingsworth & Beshears, Phoenix, Ariz., for defendants-appellants. Sam Rosenwein, Studio City, Cal. (argued), Stanley Fleishman, Hollywood, Cal., Richard J. Hertzberg, Phoenix, Ariz., for plaintiffs-appellees. Before HAMLEY and WRIGHT, Circuit Judges, and KELLEHER, District Judge. * PER CURIAM: 1 On several occasions the police seized allegedly obscene films from appellees without a prior adversary hearing to determine whether the films were protected by the First Amendment. Appellees were charged with willfully showing obscene films in violation of the Arizona obscenity statute. They then brought this civil rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 . 2 The district court…