Which Supreme Court decision overruled a Georgia statute criminalizing private possession of obscene material, holding the law violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments?

• A. Cox Broadcasting Corp v. Colin (1975)
• B. Stanley v. Georgia (1969)
• C. Paris Adult Theatre I v. Slaton (1973)
• D. Furman v. Georgia (1972)

Answer: (B)

The key idea is that the First Amendment protects private expression, and the Fourteenth Amendment extends that protection to the states. Stanley v. Georgia held that criminalizing mere private possession of obscene material inside the home violates constitutional rights because what people keep private for themselves is a domain where the government cannot bar expression. The ruling makes a important distinction: the state may regulate distribution or exhibition of obscene material, but it cannot criminalize an individual's private possession, since doing so intrudes on personal liberty and expression even when the material itself is deemed obscene. This incorporation of First Amendment protection against state punishment for private possession is why the Georgia statute is unconstitutional as applied.

In other cases, the Court has addressed different scenarios: Paris Adult Theatre I v. Slaton dealt with regulating obscene material shown in theaters, not private possession; Furman v. Georgia concerned the fairness and arbitrariness of death penalty laws; Cox Broadcasting Corp v. Colin involved the press’s right to publish information about crimes, not private possession of obscene materials.