Robert Krahm v. Milton Graham, Etc.

This is an appeal from the granting of an injunction. The action was brought under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1343, and 42 U.S.C. § 1983 . The relief sought and granted was an injunction against harrassment of the plaintiffs by prosecutions brought against them in bad faith in the courts of Phoenix, Arizona under that state’s anti-obscenity law, Ariz.Rev.Stat. § 13-532. We affirm in part and reverse in part.

1. The facts.

The following statement of facts, which is fully supported by the record, is largely taken from the brief of the plaintiff-appellees :

Plaintiffs are owners of and clerks in newsstands and bookstores in Phoenix, Arizona. Defendants are the mayor, the chief of police and the city prosecutor of Phoenix. In 1968 and 1969 over 100 criminal charges for the sale of allegedly obscene books and magazines were initiated against plaintiffs in the City Court of Phoenix by Phoenix police officers at the direction of the defendants.

Eleven of the cases came to trial. None resulted in convictions. Of these cases, two were dismissed at the close of the prosecution’s case; in three there was a directed verdict of not guilty; in two the judge found the defendants not guilty; in…