Commonwealth v. Baer
Commonwealth v. Baer
Opinion of the Court
Opinion
The Order of the Superior Court is affirmed.
Concurring Opinion
I am in complete agreement with the Court’s disposition of these cases. It is appropriate, however, to observe that the scholarly opinion of Judge Hoffman, speaking for a majority of the Superior Court, see 209 Pa. Superior Ct. 349, 227 A. 2d 915 (1967), was Written before the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Redrup v. New York, 386 U.S. 767, 87 S. Ct. 1414 (1967), and before this Court’s decision in Commonwealth v. Dell Publications, Inc., 427 Pa. 189, 233 A. 2d 840 (1967), cert. denied, 390 U.S. 948, 88 S. Ct. 1038 (1968). Thus it should be pointed out that nothing in these two later cases casts any doubt on the Superior Court’s determination in the instant cases. See Commonwealth v. Dell Publications, Inc., 427 Pa. at 201, 233 A. 2d at 847.
In Redrup, supra, the Supreme Court noted: “In none of the cases was there a claim that the statute in question reflected a specific and limited state concern for juveniles. ... In none was there any suggestion of an assault upon individual privacy by publication in a manner so obtrusive as to make it impossible for an unwilling individual to avoid exposure to it. . . . And in none was there evidence of the sort of ‘pandering’ which the Court found significant in Ginzburg v. United States....” 386 U.S. at 769, 87 S. Ct. at 1415. The same must be said of the cases now before us. See Commonwealth v. Baer, 209 Pa. Superior Ct. at 352, 356, 227 A. 2d at 917, 919 (as to “pandering” and juveniles).
Dissenting Opinion
Dissenting Opinion by
I dissent, and would affirm the Judgments of Sentence of the Court of Quarter Sessions of Luzerne County. I believe that the books and publications possessed and sold by defendants were obscene and consequently they were properly convicted.
This is one of the least clear, one of the least definite, and one of the most unwise standards ever established. Probably not more than one person in 500 knows what “prurient” means. Moreover, the Supreme Court has not defined whether “community standards” means “national,” “state-wide”
Italics, mine.
This is the most realistic and, I believe, the fairest. See Jacobellis v. Ohio, 378 U.S., supra, page 200 (minority Opinion of Mr. Chief Justice Warren, joined by Mr. Justice Clark); In Re Giannini, 69 Cal. 2d 563, 446 P. 2d 535, 72 Cal. Rept. 655.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Commonwealth, Appellant, v. Baer; Commonwealth, Appellant, v. Serafine
- Cited By
- 7 cases
- Status
- Published