Burstyn, Inc. v. Wilson 343 U.S. 495 (1952)

• Author: Leonard W. Levy
• Pages: 279

Page 279

The Supreme Court in this case unanimously overruled a 1915 decision that movies are a business "pure and simple," not entitled to constitutional protection as a medium for the communication of ideas. Justice TOM C. CLARK, for the Burstyn Court, ruled that expression by means of movies is included within the free speech and free press clauses of the FIRST AMENDMENT and protected against state abridgment by the FOURTEENTH. In this case New York authorized a state censor to refuse a license for the showing of any film deemed "sacrilegious," a standard that permitted unfettered and unprejudiced discretion. (See VAGUENESS DOCTRINE.) The state, Clark declared, had no legitimate interest in protecting any religion from offensive views. Justice FELIX FRANKFURTER, concurring, emphasized the danger to the creative...