Which 1957 decision ruled that obscenity is not within the area of constitutionally protected speech or press?

• A. Roth v. US
• B. NAACP v. Alabama
• C. Gideon v. Wainwright
• D. Griswold v. Connecticut

Answer: (C)

The main idea tested is when material falls outside First Amendment protection because it is obscene. In the 1957 decision, the Court ruled obscenity is not protected, establishing a standard to distinguish obscene material from speech the government may regulate. The ruling in Roth v. United States holds that obscenity is determined by whether the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to prurient interest; it depicts or describes sexual conduct in a patently offensive way; and the work lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value. This framework gives the government authority to regulate or ban such material.

Other cases listed address different constitutional issues: Gideon v. Wainwright concerns the right to counsel for those who cannot afford an attorney; Griswold v. Connecticut concerns a right to privacy in matters of contraception; NAACP v. Alabama protects freedom of association.