Heller v. New York, 413 U.S. 483 (1973), was a United States Supreme Court decision which upheld that states could make laws limiting the distribution of obscene material, provided that these laws were consistent with the Miller test for obscene material established by the Supreme Court in Miller v. California, 413 U.S. 15 (1973). Heller was initially convicted for showing a sexually explicit film in the movie theater which he owned, under New York Penal Law § 235.0 which stated that and individual “is guilty of obscenity when, knowing its content and character, he 1. Promotes, or possesses with intent to promote, any obscene material; or 2. Produces, presents or directs an obscene performance or participates in a portion thereof which is obscene or which contributes to its obscenity."
Heller appealed this ruling to the supreme court, claiming that his first amendment rights had been violated due to the broad nature of New York's obscenity laws. The defendant also claimed that his 14th amendment rights had been violated due to the fact the film was seized prior to him receiving a hearing of any kind. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Heller in a 5–4 decision, with the majority decision delivered by Justice Burger. The Court found the procedure by which the film was seized to be constitutional but ruled in favor of Heller in order to afford New York a chance to bring their obscenity laws in line with the guidelines established by the Supreme Court in Miller v. California]]. The dissenting opinions were written by Justices William O. Douglas and William J. Brennan Jr., the latter of which was joined by Justices Potter Stewart and Thurgood Marshall. These dissenting opinions argued that the obscenity laws that Heller was convicted under were themselves unconstitutional and thus the seizure of the film was unconstitutional. This case was one of several cases that the Burger court ruled on concerning obscenity laws in the early 1970s.
Background
Heller was the manager of the New Andy Warhol Garrick movie theater in Greenwich Village, New York city. On July 29, 1969, the Andy Warhol film Blue Movie was displayed, a film which depicts a couple engaged in sexually explicit acts and discussing various subjects ranging from athletes foot the Vietnam War. Three police officers saw part of this screening of the film and based on their observations an assistant district attorney requested that a judge of the New York criminal court see the film. On July 31, 1969, a judge accompanied by a police inspector saw the film and deemed that the film was “obscene as I saw it then under the definition of obscene, that is [in] . . . section 235.00 of the Penal Law.". The judge thus issued John Doe warrants for the arrest of the not only the theater manager, but also the projectionist and ticket tacker. The judge and police inspector both stated that they did not recall seeing any signs that limited admission to film to only adults. The theater manager as well as the ticket taker and projectionists were arrested and the film seized. There was no pretrial claim that the copy of the film seized as evidence was the only copy.
The case came to trial in the New York City Criminal Court on September 16, 1969, before 3 judges. Heller provided several “experts” to testify that the film “had social, literary, and artistic importance” and also testified that in addition to signs restricting the admittance of anyone under 17 the staff had been instructed to not allow in those under 18. Heller argued that the seizure of the film violated his 14th amendment right and that the New York state obscenity laws under which the film was seized violated the first amendment because they were vague and more broad than necessary. Heller also argued that films shown exclusively to consenting adults in private are free speech protected by the constitution.
The defendant was found guilty by the New York City Criminal Court, a decision that was upheld on appeal by both the Supreme Court of the State of New York and the New York Court of Appeals. The Court of appeals cited the Supreme Court's ruling in Lee Art Theatre v. Virginia its decision, which stated that a judge could not issue a warrant for the seizure of a film based only the word of an officer. The Court of appeals felt that because the judge had in fact gone to see the film himself he had sufficient grounds to constitutionally issue a warrant for seizure of the film even without a formal hearing.