First Amendment topicsAbout the First Amendment
 
Osborne v. Ohio (docket #: 88-5986) (1990)  [Findlaw]

Argument Date 12/05/1989
Decided 4/18/1990
Supreme Court Vote 5-1-3
Supreme Court Ruling First Amendment claim denied
 
IssueWhether an Ohio statute prohibiting the private possession or viewing of child pornography is overbroad and violates the First Amendment's free speech guarantees.
Majority Opinion White, J.
Concurring Opinion Blackmun, J.
Dissenting Opinion Brenan, J. (joined by Marshall, J., & Stevens, J.)
Lower Court Ohio Supreme Court
Lower Court Ruling First Amendment claim denied
Oral Arguments Oral Arguments  [Oyez]
Lawyers
For Petitioner
S. Adele Shank

For Respondent
Ronald J. O'Brien

Briefs
For Amicus
Alan E. Sears for the Children's Legal Foundation (for respondent)

Attorneys General of Ohio, Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, South Dakota and Washington (for respondent)

Gregory A. Loken and Judith Drazen Schretter for Covenant House et al. (for respondent)

H. Robert Showers, Wendell R. Bird, Jordan W. Lorence and Cimron Campbell for Concerned Women for America et al. (for respondent)

Peggy M. Coleman for the American Family Association, Inc. (for respondent)

Ruling - Lower Court
37 Ohio St. 3d 249, 525 N. E. 2d 1363
News
Greenhouse, Linda, "Justices, 6 to 3, Restrict Rights to Pornography," The New York Times, April 19, 1990, Sect. A, p. 1
Marcus, Ruth, "Justices Broaden Curb on Child Pornography," The Washington Post, April 19, 1990, Sect. A, p. 1
Wermiel, Stephen, "High Court's Child-Pornography Ruling is Watched for Effect on Adult Privacy," The Wall Street Journal, April 23, 1990, Sect. B, p. 5
Other
Chemerinsky, Erwin, CONSTITUTIONAL LAW (3rd Ed.)(2006), Sect. 11.3.4.5
Note, "The Supreme Court: Leading Cases," 104 Harv. L. Rev. 129 (1990)
Commentary
"The Child Pornography Decision," The Washington Post, April 22, 1990, Sect. B, p. 6
Gillers, Stephen, "Abused Children vs. the Bill of Rights," The New York Times, Aug. 3, 1990, Sect. A, p. 27
Will, George F., "Why Liberals Look Silly," The Washington Post, April 29, 1990, Sect. D, p. 7
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