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Schnapper, M. B. Constraint by Copyright; a Report on "Official" and "Private" Practices. Washington, D.C., Public Affairs, 1960. 154p. S102
"The purpose of this report is to call the attention of the American people to a problem vitally affecting the interests of every citizen: extensive copyrighting of official material by public officials who flagrantly disregard or deftly by-pass laws barring such activities." The private copyrighting of government documents, the author maintains, is contrary to the free press guarantees in the Bill of Rights as well as a specific prohibition of the Copyright Act. He cites specifically the case of Admiral Rickover's speeches and the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals.
Schneiderhahn, Edward V. P. Motion Pictures: Influence, Benefits, Evils, Censorship. St. Louis, St. Louis University, 1917. 68p. S103
Schofield, Henry. "Freedom of the Press in the United States." Papers and Proceedings, Ninth Annual Meeting, American Sociological Society, 9:67-116, 1914. (Also in his Essays on Constitutional Law and Equity. Boston, Northeastern University Law School, 1921, vol. 2, pp. 510-71) S104
This study by a professor of law at Northwestern University has been referred to as a classic statement on the historical development and meaning of the liberty of the press in the United States. Schofield traces American press freedom from the English common law through the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and its subsequent interpretation by the courts. He believes that the Constitution does not provide complete immunity from legislative regulation of the liberty of the press. He considers it desirable for state and federal legislation to be enacted that will give "better protection by the courts of personal reputation and property from defamatory falsehood." "Constitutional liberty of the press in the United States is nothing more nor less than a fine popular attempt to employ the law and its machinery to realize the great saying: 'And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.'" Comments on this paper are to be found on pages 123-32 of Papers and Proceedings.
"School Boards, Schoolbooks and the Freedom to Learn." Yale Law Journal, 59:928-54, 1950. S105
A well-documented analysis of the legal issues in public school censorship. The author considers in some detail the banning of The Nation in the New York City schools because of articles offending Catholics, and the "encore," i.e. the demand to ban works of Dickens and Shakespeare that were offensive to Jews. The author finds justification in neither law nor theory. "Administratively, its inherent evil is an incapacity to draw the line. Once a book-banning precedent is established, future exclusions are made simpler. . . . Alternatively, a positive approach to the challenges of intolerance and hostile ideology appears necessary. . . . Perhaps school boards might better devote their energies towards establishing merit of school programs wherein basic controversial issues would be openly studied and discussed."
"School Teachers as Film Censors." World's Work, 48:248-49, July 1924. S106
A report on recommendations made by the Better Film Committee of the National Council of Mothers and Parent-Teacher Associations, to the effect that parents and teachers should take joint action to discourage children from attending unsuitable movies. Two suggestions for teachers: request students to list good movies attended, and pour on the homework while a poor movie is in town. Mrs. Charles E. Merriam was chairman of the Committee.
Schramm, Wilber. Responsibility in Mass Communications. New York, Harper, 1957. 391p. (Prepared under the direction of a study group authorized by the Federal Council of Churches) S107
The first part of the book deals with the changing nature of the mass media. The second part traces the main currents of change in the public philosophy of mass communications, including The Four Concepts of Mass Communications which were discussed more fully in Siebert, et al., Four Theories of the Press. The third part considers some of the ethical problems confronted by the media--freedom, the right to know, truth and fairness, and popular art. The final section considers the social responsibility of government, the media, and the public in the control and regulation of the mass media.
-------, ed. Communications in Modern Society; Fifteen Studies of the Mass Media . . . Urbana, Ill., University of Illinois Press, 1948. 252p. S108
Frederick S. Siebert in Communications and Government, presents the fourfold relationship of government to communications (restricting, regulating, facilitating, and participating) and favors a government-sponsored information service to supplement commercial sources. Raymond B. Nixon in Implications of the Decreasing Numbers of Competitive Newspapers takes issue with the charges made by Morris Ernst that monopolies are destroying freedom of the press. Ralph D. Casey in Professional Freedom and Responsibility in the Press, and Robert J. Blakely in The Responsibilities of an Editor, write of the dedication of the profession to a "sacred trust."
-------, ed. Mass Communications; a Book of Readings . . . Urbana, Ill., University of Illinois Press, 1949. 552p. S109
One section of this anthology relates to Control and Support of Mass Communications. Schramm writes in the introduction: "The problems of who should control communications and how media should be supported, how free they should be and what should be the nature of their social responsibility, have always existed. They have come into the forefront of our thinking since communications have begun to be mass communications, and therefore potent political weapons and exceedingly expensive institutions."
Schriftgiesser, Karl. "The Boston Stage Censor: John Michael Casey." Authors' League Bulletin, 15(3):7-11, June 1927. S110
Since 1904 Mr. Casey has been enforcing the "dictates of propriety and refinement" on the Boston stage under what has come to be known as the Boston Plan. Casey operates as city censor in the licensing division of the mayor's office. "My sole object as 'censor,'" Casey states, "is to protect the man whose money is invested in the show or the theater, and the general theatrical public whose one desire is to see clean, wholesome plays."
-------. "Boston Stays Pure." New Republic, 58:327-29, 8 May 1929. S111
A denunciation of the verdict in Suffolk Superior Court in Boston against publisher Donald S. Friede for the sale of Theodore Dreiser's The American Tragedy. Until the Massachusetts obscenity law is changed or the courts set aside the verdict, "all modern literature in Massachusetts hovers in fear under the tyrannical figure of the law!"
-------. "How Little Rollo Came to Rule the Mind of Boston; History of the Censorship of Plays and Books That Attracts the Attention of the Country." Boston Transcript, 21 September 1929, Magazine Section, pp. 1-2. S112
An exposé of Boston's police censorship of drama, written during the controversy over banning of Eugene O'Neill's Strange Interlude. Includes an account of the appointment by Mayor Patrick A. Collins, in 1904, of Boston's first official drama censor, John Michael Casey. Casey qualified for the job by having served as a drummer in Boston burlesque for twenty years. The author quotes Casey's views on stage morality: "I believe that nothing should be placed upon the stage of any theater anywhere to which you could not take your mother, sweetheart, wife, or sister." Casey attends first night performances and reports any improprieties to a three-man committee consisting of the mayor, the chief justice of the Municipal Court, and the police commissioner, who take the necessary action.
Schroeder, Theodore A. "Abstract of Theodore Schroeder's Speech at Birth Control Meeting, Carnegie Hall, New York City, March 1, 1916." Mother Earth, 11:463-67, April 1916. S113 §
Schroeder (1864-1953), attorney for the Free Speech League and legal counsellor to the Medico-Legal Society of New York, devoted a lifetime to a crusade for freedom of speech and the press, particularly in the area of sex expression. His libertarian views were the subject of considerable controversy, which extended even after his death to a ruling on his will by the Connecticut courts. He has probably written more on the subject of free speech and obscenity than any other writer, his articles appearing in legal, medical, psychological, and radical journals such as the article in Mother Earth. On this occasion Schroeder defends the anarchist, Emma Goldman, arrested for circulating birth control literature. He discusses the mental attitude of judges and legislators toward the subject.
-------. "Absurdity of the 'Obscenity' Laws." Physical Culture, 17:85-88, January 1907. S114 §
"They are absolutely opposed to elementary common sense and the first principles of modern law." The laws are so absurd, he declared, that even the Bible has been judged obscene (Clay Centre, Kansas, 1895). Abridged from an address, Liberty of Speech and Press Essential to Purity Propaganda, delivered at the National Purity Conference, Chicago, 10 October 1906.
-------. "Argument on Blasphemy; the Former Attitude of the English Courts and Recent Changed Constructions." Truth Seeker, 43:822-24, 23 December 1916. S115
-------. Blasphemy and Free Speech, being Sample Portions of an Argument which a Connecticut Judge Refused to Read. Printed to Promote the Repeal of the Blasphemy Laws. New York, Free Speech League, 1918. 53p. S116
Chapter 1, Statement on the Mockus Case; Chapter 18, Review of Blasphemy Prosecutions; Chapter 21, Roger Williams, James Madison and Thomas Jefferson; Chapter 22, Christianity and the Law.
[-------]. "Brief for Free Speech; the Blasphemy Argument Brings up the History of Toleration in New York; the Animus of Justice Kent in the Ruggles Case--his Clerical Antecedents; Overruling of Justice Kent by Judge Parker in the case of Charles C. Moore." Truth Seeker, 44:70-71, 3 February 1917; 44:86, 10 February 1917; 44:102-3, 17 February 1917. S117
-------. "Censoring Free Speech Advocates." Call Magazine, 1:34, 16 November 1919. S118
How a U.S. educational department asked for and then rejected a gift of free-speech literature. Rejected titles are listed.
-------. "Censorship of Sex Literature." Medical Council, 14:91-98, March 1909. (Reprinted in Schroeder, "Obscene" Literature and Constitutional Law, pp. 42-73) S119
-------. A Challenge to Sex Censors. New York, Privately printed, 1938. 159p. S120
A development of the thesis that legally and psychologically the words witchcraft and obscenity "represent only different rationalizations for the same superstition . . . The witches and wizards of old are now the producers of sexy books, pictures, and plays."
-------. "Concerning the Meaning of 'Freedom of the Press.'" Central Law Journal, 68:227-34, March 1909. (Reprinted in "Obscene" Literature and Constitutional Law, pp. 142-53) S121
-------. "The Constitution and Obscenity Postal Regulations." Albany Law Journal, 26:334-39, November 1907. (Also issued in revised form by Free Speech League under the title, Unconstitutionality of All Laws Against "Obscene" Literature. 16p.) S122
-------. Constitutional Free Speech Defined and Defended in an Unfinished Argument in a Case of Blasphemy. New York, Free Speech League, 1919. 456p. S123
The occasion for the book is the argument by Mr. Schroeder, attorney for the Free Speech League, on behalf of the defendant, Michael X. Mockus, a free-thought lecturer, charged with blasphemy in the state of Connecticut. Through both historical and legal argument, Schroeder presents the thesis that blasphemy cannot be a crime under the First Amendment. Beginning with the opinions of Blackstone, which he considers undemocratic, he discusses various English and American decisions and cases relating to blasphemy including that of Abner Kneeland. He draws upon numerous historical documents--reports of trials, speeches, philosophical treatises, and political tracts--both in American and British history to illustrate the evaluation of thinking with respect to freedom of religious thought. He quotes at length from many important but often obscure sources, so that the work becomes "a small encyclopedia of source-material on the question." Included are references to the thinking of Jeremy Bentham, Tunis Wortman, St. George Tucker, Roger Williams, Robert Hall, and Charles Blount. He summarizes the proceedings of the freedom of the press trials of Alexander Leighton, William Prynne, Henry Burton, John Pockington, Paul Best, John Archer, John Biddle, John Fry, Benjamin Keach, Lodowick Muggleton, Henry Care, Thomas DeLaune, Richard Baxter, John Asgill, Matthew Tindal, Edward Elwall, Bernard Mandeville, Thomas Woolston, Jacob Ilive, Peter Annett, Daniel I. Eaton, George Houston, and James Adair.
-------. "Constructive Obscenity, an Unconstitutional Crime." Physical Culture, 17:363-64, May 1907. S124
This article was stimulated by the arrest of Bernarr Macfadden, publisher of Physical Culture, on obscenity charges. All the safeguards of liberty under due process of law to prevent punishment for constructive crimes "are being violated under the pretext of the 'virtuous' suppression of 'obscene' literature. Obscenity is never the quality of a book or a picture, but always and ever only the quality of the viewing mind." The article also appeared in Blue Grass Blade (Louisville, Ky.), 17 March 1907, under the title, Test Case on Obscenity.
-------. The Criminal Anarchy Law and Suppressing the Advocacy of Crime; A Lecture. New York, Mother Earth Publishing Co., 1907. 16p. (First appeared in the January 1907 issue of Mother Earth; reprinted in Schroeder, Free Speech for Radicals, pp. 23-36) S125
"Erskine on the Limits of Toleration." Secular Thought (Toronto), 37:51-55, February 1911. (Reprinted in Schroeder, Free Speech for Radicals, pp. 45-53) S126
Schroeder concludes, after a careful examination of Thomas Erskine's speeches in defense of freedom of the press, that this eighteenth-century English lawyer "was a true believer in a real unabridged liberty of utterance, where no man could be punished so long as the mere verbal portrayal of his ideas is the only factor involved."
-------. "Etiology and Development of Our Censorship of Sex-Literature." Pacific Medical Journal, 53:213-22, April 1910; 53:279-94, May 1910. (Reprinted in Schroeder, "Obscene" Literature and Constitutional Law, pp. 42-73) S127
-------. "Evolution of Comstockery." Altruria, 2(3):13-17, March 1907. S128 §
-------. "Free Speech and the War." New Review, 3:158-61, March 1915. S129
-------. Free Speech Bibliography, Including Every Discovered Attitude toward the Problem, Covering Every Method of Transmitting Ideas and of Abridging Their Promulgation upon Every Subject Matter. New York, Wilson, 1922. 247p. S130
Contents: Before 1800, General Discussions, Alien and Sedition Laws, Economic Motive, Personal Motive, Religious Motive, Sedition, Sex Motive, and War Motive. A list of suppressed publications is given on pp. 227-39. The Schroeder bibliography includes many topics not covered by the present bibliography--general freedom of thought and opinion, religious freedom, freedom of association, public speech, church and state relations, and religion in the schools. There are also many references to legal briefs and newspaper stories, omitted in the present bibliography.
-------. The Free Speech Case of Jay Fox. New York, Free Speech League, 1912. 12p. S131
An appeal on behalf of Jay Fox, who was convicted in the State of Washington for violating a state law prohibiting any publication encouraging disrespect for law. The offending article appeared in the Agitator of Home, Wash., and was entitled, The Nude and the Prudes, a defense of the rights of a group of nudists. This pamphlet argues that the state law invoked in the Fox case "clearly penalizes every attempt to get a law amended or repealed, for manifestly one cannot make an argument for a repeal or an amendment of a statute without tending to create disrespect for that particular law."
-------. Free Speech for Radicals. Enlarged edition. Riverside, Conn., Hillacre Bookhouse, 1916. 206p. (Published for the Free Speech League) S132
Ten republished essays on liberty of speech and press, principally from the Arena and Mother Earth, 1906 to 1915: Our Vanishing Liberty of the Press, Lawless Suppression of Free Speech in New York, On Suppressing the Advocacy of Crime, The Meaning of Unabridged Freedom of Speech, Erskine on the Limits of Toleration, Liberal Opponents and Conservative Friends of Unabridged Free Speech, Our Progressive Despotism, Methods of Constitutional Construction, History of the San Diego Free Speech Fight, and Free Speech and the War. The appendix contains an excerpt from the Final Report of the U.S. Commission on Industrial Relations.
-------. Freedom of the Press and "Obscene" Literature; Three Essays . . . New York, The Free Speech League, 1906. 71p. S133
Contents: More Liberty of Press Essential to Moral Progress (address to National Purity Federation, Chicago, 1906). What Is Criminally Obscene? A Study of the Absurd Judicial Cases (Proceedings of the XV Congrés International de Médecine, Lisbon, 1906). Liberty of Discussion Defended with Special Application to Sex Discussion (Liberal Review, August and September 1906).
-------. "Government by Spies." Twentieth Century, 3:140-44, November 1910. S134
Schroeder complains of the vast army of government employees who are checking on the activities of the American people, including what mail they send and receive.
-------. "Historical Interpretation of 'Freedom of Speech and of the Press.'" Central Law Journal, 70:184-89, 10 March 1910; 70:201-11, 28 March 1910; 70:223-28, 25 March 1910. S135
Part I covers early English theories of libel and the enactment of the Fox Libel Act of 1792. Part 2 discusses the Star Chamber treatment of sedition, the defense of a free press by Milton, Montesquieu, Robert Hall, and Thomas Jefferson. Part 3 discusses the fight against the taxes on knowledge in England during the early decades of the nineteenth century.
-------. "In Defense of Liberty: Macfadden's Arrest." Physical Culture, 17:301-2, April 1907. S136
Bernarr Macfadden, editor of Physical Culture, was arrested and afterward convicted for alleged obscenity in a story published in Physical Culture entitled, Growing to Manhood in Civilized Society, written by John R. Coryell.
-------. "Intellectual Liberty and Literary Style." Open Court, 34:275-78, May 1920. (Reprinted in the Crucible, 18 July 1920) S137
Freedom of speech and press should not be limited to those with literary facility: "If constitutional free speech is recognized as a 'human right,' then every human must have an 'equal' right to express his own ideas, in his own way, with his own vocabulary, in the service of his own temperment." This includes the right to use scurrilous language. The framers of the Bill of Rights did not intend a "stylists' aristocracy." The article was prompted by the Mockus blasphemy case.
-------. "Judicial Destruction of Freedom of the Press." Albany Law Journal, 70:323-26, November 1908. (Reprinted in his "Obscene" Literature and Constitutional Law, pp. 154-62) S138
Freedom of the press is a proposition almost everyone professes to believe yet everyone can be relied upon to endorse some abridgment of it. "The courts have promptly and almost uniformly amended the constitutional guarantees of freedom of speech and press by dogmatically writing into them new exceptions and limitations."
-------. "Judicial 'Tests of Obscenity' Applied by Theodore Schroeder." Alienist and Neurologist, 31:497-501, November 1910. (A revised version in "Obscene" Literature and Constitutional Law, pp. 240-57) S139
The author criticizes the judiciary for attempting to make judgments in an area of abnormal and sexual psychology in which they do not have adequate scientific knowledge. They fail to recognize that "obscenity is the contribution of the reading mind."
-------. Law of Blasphemy: The Modern View Exhibited in Model Instructions to a Jury. New York, Free Speech League, 1919. 18p. (Reprinted from Truth Seeker, 31 August and 7 September 1918) S140
While one American court has held that laws against blasphemy are not unconstitutional (People v. Ruggles, 8 John 290; 5 Am. Dec. 335) the author believes that a judge might appropriately show that our guarantees of liberty compel a change in the judicial interpretation of blasphemy, a fact to be brought out in the instructions to the jury. The author, therefore, presents suggestions for such a statement. The issues of the Truth Seeker carrying these articles were banned by the Post Office Department under the wartime espionage law.
-------. "The Lawless Suppression of Freedom of Speech in New York." Arena, 39:694-99, June 1908. S141
Deals with action by the New York police against the anarchist, Emma Goldman, including threats against those who sold her periodical, Mother Earth.
-------. "Legal 'Obscenity' and Sexual Psychology." Alienist and Neurologist, 29:1-35, August 1908. S142
The editor of the Medico-Legal Journal refused to publish this article without editing it. Accordingly, it was withdrawn and published in full in the St. Louis journal, Alienist and Neurologist, August 1908.
-------. Liberal Opponents and Conservative Friends of Unabridged Free Speech. Being Notes of a Lecture Delivered March 13, 1910, before the Brooklyn Philosophical Association . . . New York, Mother Earth Publishing Association, 1910. 16p. (Also published in Mother Earth, May 1910, and in Schroeder, Free Speech for Radicals) S143
Schroeder replies to critics who take issue with his views that obscenity exists only in the minds of the reader and that any restrictions on expression in this realm as in others is a violation of freedom of the press. He points out that his opponents are strange bedfellows--radical and free-thought leaders such as Robert Ingersoll, Edwin C. Walker, and the editors of the Truth Seeker, Secular Thought, and The Public are in agreement with Anthony Comstock and the vice societies. On the other hand, support for his libertarian views has come from such political conservatives as Havelock Ellis, Sir Oliver Lodge, and Sir Leslie Stephen. There are three major groups agitating for free speech and press: (1) Socialists, (2) advocates of sex freedom, including the author, and (3) Emma Goldman in behalf of anarchism. Ingersoll's attitude on the obscenity laws is quoted from his book, As He Is.
-------. Liberty of Speech and Press Essential to Purity Propaganda. An Address Prepared for the National Purity Conference, and to be Delivered October 10th, 1906, Lincoln Center, Chicago. [New York, Free Speech League, 1906]. 50p. (Reprinted in The Light, January 1907, and in Schroeder, Freedom of the Press and "Obscene" Literature, 1906) S144
Schroeder urges legal freedom for sex education as the most important step in the purity movement. He recommends abolishing present tests for obscenity and the repeal of all existing laws on obscenity as applied to adults. As for children, Congress should place control of their mail in the hands of their parents. Sex instruction should be offered in the schools in an effort to get rid of the morbid curiosity about sex education books. Anthony Comstock was unable to attend the Conference but a paper by him was read. William A. Coote of the London vice society attended.
-------. "A Lobby for Liberty." New York, Free Speech League, 1910. 8p. (Reprinted from Editorial Review, March 1910) S145
A plea for a lobby to further the case for liberty of the press and speech and to urge repeal of oppressive legislation. Such a lobby is not now in existence because there is no market value represented.
-------. "May It Please The Court." Medico-Legal Journal, 48:22-25, January-February 1931; 48:60-63, March-April 1931; 48:89-95, May-June 1931. S146
In a mock obscenity trial, Schroeder as defense attorney claims that obscenity has no more objective existence than witches and that the court is tempermentally and psychologically incapable of understanding scientific evidence with respect to obscenity. The entire concept of obscenity is a "mass delusion."
[-------]. May It Please the Court, by Amicus Curiae [pseud.]. One Experienced with "Obscenity" Now Portrays the Difficulties that Beset the Accused and His Attorney . . . Mays Landing, N.J., Sunshine Book Company, 1945. 35p. S147
In behalf of the nudist press.
-------. Meaning of Free Speech (for Pacifists). New York, Free Speech League, 1917 16p. S148
Statement made at a free speech meeting held in Madison Square Garden, New York, 1 August 1917, to protest against the arbitrary suppression of 18 radical and pacifist periodicals. No one should be disadvantaged by the state for a psychological offense, and for the mere use of words the state has no rightful jurisdiction to punish except for material injury or overt act. Constitutional free speech includes protection against privately inflicted injury as well as official interference.
-------. "The Meaning of Unabridged 'Freedom of Speech.'" In Alden Freeman, The Fight for Free Speech, pp. 21-24, and Central Law Journal (St. Louis), 26 March 1909. S149
-------. Methods of Constitutional Construction. The Synthetic Method Illustrated on the Free Speech Clause of the Federal Constitution . . . With Three Supplements Bearing on the Rights of Revolutionists by James Mill, J. L. De Lolme and John Cartwright. New York, Free Speech League [1914]. 106p. S150
Includes the text of James Mill's On Liberty of the Press, J. L. De Lolme's Right of Resistance (De Lolme was a French lawyer who admired the British constitution and, according to Schroeder, was the author of the Junius letters), and John Cartwright, a British major who was dismissed from the army for sympathies with the American and French Revolutions. Cartwright was active in the government reform movement of the early 1800's and helped to form the Association for Constitutional Information.
-------. Much Needed Defense for Liberty of Conscience, Speech and Press, with Special Application to Sex Discussion. New York, Free Speech League, 1906. 23p. (Reprinted from the Liberal Review, August and September 1906) S151
Persecution of opinion "seems to be an eternal inheritance of humans." It can be traced down through the ages in areas of religious bigotry, and more recently, sex bigotry. "Moral concepts are a matter of geography and evolution. The morality of one country or age is viewed as the moral poison of another country or age." The laws for the suppression of "obscene" literature as administered today deny adults access to part of the necessary facts about their sex nature, and therefore, are a violation of the inalienable right of every individual to acquaintance with the process of nature. "If you are a true liberal you will be ever ready to defend the right of every other man to disagree with you upon every conceivable subject."
-------. A New Concept of Liberty from an Evolutionary Psychologist. Berkeley Heights, N.J., Oriole Press, 1940. 153p. (Edition limited to 200 copies) S152
Eight selections from Schroeder's writings, including his An Indictment of Puritan Censorship and Our Vanishing Liberty of the Press. Contains a brief biography of Schroeder by Joseph Ishill, proprietor of the Oriole Press.
-------. "Obscene" Literature and Constitutional Law; A Forensic Defense of Freedom of the Press. New York, Privately printed for forensic uses, 1911. 439p. S153
This is an encyclopedic work on obscenity laws and court decisions, representing Schroeder's crusade against existing legal attitudes toward obscenity which he believes place pernicious restrictions on the freedom of the press. Much of the book is composed of articles by Schroeder appearing in various legal, medical, or public affairs journals during the early 1900's. It is Schroeder's contention that all laws against obscene literature are unconstitutional.
-------. "'Obscene' Literature at Common Law." Albany Law Journal, 69:146-49, May 1907. S154
A brief review of the English and American precedence showing that no "obscene libel" was recognized under common law.
-------. "On the Implied Power to Exclude 'Obscene' Ideas from the Mail." Central Law Journal, 65:177-83, 6 September 1907. (Reprinted in his "Obscene" Literature and Constitutional Law, pp. 29-41) S155
"Postal laws against 'obscene' literature conflict with constitutional restraints upon Congressional powers" and should be repealed.
-------. "Opposition to Freedom of the Press." American Journal of Eugenics, 1:1-6, July 1907. (Reprinted in Secular Thought, Toronto, August 1907) S156
Deals with criticism of those supporting sex censorship.
-------. "Our Censorship of Literature." Tomorrow, 4:42-44, November 1908. S157 §
Discusses the suppression of Mrs. Warren's Profession by the New York vice society.
-------. Our Prudish Censorship Unveiled. New York, Free Speech League, 1915. 16p. (Reprinted from Forum, 1915; published also in Pacific Medical Journal, June 1915) S158
Schroeder discusses freedom of sex knowledge including sex hygiene, physiology, and the psychology of sex. He protests against any form of censorship on any subject as constituting a violation of the Constitution. "Always the cure for the sorrows of misinformation and half knowledge is more information."
-------. Our Vanishing Liberty of the Press. New York, Free Speech League, 1907. 7p. (Bound with B. O. Flower's Sound Morality, Versus Morbid Pruriency. The Schroeder article is reprinted from the December 1906 Arena; it also appears in Schroeder, Free Speech for Radicals, pp. 1-10) S159
"By gradual encroachments and precedents we are rapidly approaching the stage in which we will enjoy any liberties only by permission."
-------. "Prosecution for 'Obscenity'; Case of the Polish People's Publishing Co." Truth Seeker, 38:226, April 1911. S160
The cause of the arrest was the publication of a cartoon offensive to Catholics.
-------. Protest of the Free Speech League against the Passage of Senate Bill No. 1790, Assembly Bill No. 650, New York Legislature, 1911, which Proposes to Penalize Certain Medical Advertising and Intelligence. New York, Free Speech League, 1911. 12p. S161
The bill relates to advertising treatment for venereal diseases. Whatever may be legally done, Schroeder argues, may be legally advertised.
-------. "Psychic Lasciviousness and Purity Legislation." Medical Critic and Guide, 7:109-11, October 1907. S162
-------. Psychologic Study of Judicial Opinion. New York, Privately printed for the Friends of Free Speech, 1918. 45p. (Reprinted from the California Law Review, January 1918) S163
-------. "Psychologic Study of Modesty." Medical Council (Philadelphia), 14:18-22, January 1909. (Reprinted in Schroeder, "Obscene" Literature and Constitutional Law, pp. 315-25) S164
-------. "Right of Free Speech; a Peppery Correspondence [with the editor of the Outlook]." Truth Seeker, 36:34-35, 16 January 1909. S165 §
-------. "Rights of Moses Harman under the Constitution; How They Were Denied." American Journal of Eugenics, 3:13-15, April 1910. S166
Harman was several times convicted of "obscenity" for advocating sex reforms.
-------. Sex and Censorship: The Eternal Conflict. New York, 1927. 13p. (Reprinted from the Medical Journal and Record, 16 November 1927) S167
"Obscenity exists exclusively in the viewing or reading mind, and never is a quality of the thing read or viewed."
-------. "Testimony of Mr. Theodore Schroeder." In U.S. Senate. Commission on Industrial Relations. Industrial Relations; Final Report and Testimony. Washington, D.C., Govt. Print. Off., 1916, pp. 10840-52, 10866-96 (Doc. 415, 66th Cong., 1st sess.) S168
The attorney for the Free Speech League gives testimony before the Commission on violations of freedom of speech and the press in labor disputes. In a prepared statement Schroeder cites examples of government efforts to suppress the speech and publications of radicals. Included examples are: the speech of Fred Warren, editor of Appeal to Reason, before the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Minneapolis, where he was tried on charges of sending scurrilous matter through the mail on an outside wrapper; the criminal libel charges against The Masses; and the use of the obscenity laws against Freeman Knowles, South Dakota Socialist editor, and the Denver Socialist paper, Up the Divide. Schroeder incorporates the text of the article on prostitution from the June 1911 issue of the Denver paper which was suppressed by the Post Office Department. He also cites the suppression, on grounds of obscenity, of the New York Daily Call, the Oklahoma Social Democrat, and Mrs. Margaret Sanger's Woman Rebel. He reports on the trial for seditious libel of Ludobico Comminita, editor of a radical paper at Paterson, N.J., and of the publishers of the Free Press of New Castle, Pa. Schroeder includes the text of the offending article, The Nude and the Prude, for which Jay Fox, editor of the anarchist-syndicalist paper, Agitator, of Home, Wash., was given a jail sentence for creating disrespect for the law.
[-------]. "Theodore Schroeder; an Unconventional and Non-Professional Educator." Lawyer and Banker, 8:64-66, February 1915. S169
A biographical sketch of one of the leading advocates of freedom in sex expression. Portrait at front of issue.
[-------]. Theodore Schroeder's Last Will. New York, Psychological Library, 1953. 40p. S170
A decision of the Supreme Court of the State of Connecticut upheld a lower court decision breaking the will of one of America's leading fighters for freedom of press and speech. Schroeder had left his estate to be expended in the collection, arrangement, and publication of his writings. The Court found the writings of no social value and offensive to religion. Judge O'Sullivan found that "the object of the trust . . . is to distribute articles which reek of the sewer." The pamphlet is edited and compiled by Leslie Kuhn, with an Introduction by Alison Reppy, dean of the New York Law School, and an Appreciation by Ethel Clyde.
-------. "Twin of Witchcraft. Such Is Blasphemy. Born of the Same Book, the Same Age, the Same Ignorance." Truth Seeker, 43:801-3, 16 December 1916. S171
-------. "Varieties of Criteria of Guilt in Obscenity Cases." Central Law Journal, 71:150-56, 2 September 1910. (Reprinted in Schroeder, "Obscene" Literature and Constitutional Law, pp. 326-42) S172
-------. "Varieties of Official Modesty." Albany Law Journal, 70:226-31, August 1908. (First published in American Journal of Eugenics, December 1907; reprinted in Schroeder, "Obscene" Literature and Constitutional Law, pp. 302-15) S173
"The purpose of this essay is to exhibit a portion of the official and juridical evidence to prove that 'obscenity,' as used in the statutes by which we now destroy the freedom of the press as to sex discussion, has no exact or definable meaning."
-------. What About You? Selected, edited, and with an Introduction by Ethel Clyde. New York, Psychological Library, 1951. 60p. S174
Includes selections of Schroeder's writings on sex education, obscenity, freedom of speech and freedom for silence.
-------. "What Is Criminally 'Obscene'?" Albany Law Journal, 68:211-17, July 1906. (Reprinted from the Proceedings, XV Congrés International de Médecine, Lisbon, April 1906, Section XVI) S175
The author objects to the legal assumption that the term "obscene" permits of "exact general definition or tests, such as are capable of universal application, producing absolute uniformity of result, no matter by whom the definition or test is applied." Today every medical book that treats of sex is free only by tolerance, not by right. It is a futile struggle for the courts to attempt a definition of "obscenity."
-------. "Where Speech is Not Free." Call Magazine, 2:8-9, 5 September 1920; 2:6-7, 12 September 1920; 2:6-7, 19 September 1920. S176
A summary of the laws of the states and the United States which in any way abridged freedom of speech before the enactment of war censorship.
-------. Where Speech Is Not Free--In the USA. An Appeal to the Record. Mays Landing, N.J., Open Road Press, 1944. 50p. S177
Schroeder has gathered together evidence of the lack of free speech in the United States in the realms of labor, sex, birth control, socialism, and free thought.
-------. "Why Do Purists Object to Sex-Discussion?" American Journal of Eugenics, 1:118-23, September 1907. S178 §
An attack on various schools of moral sentimentalists about sex--Comstockians, Mormon polygamists, "spiritual lovers," and lascivious ascetics. "Erotophobia" or "erotomania" should both be rejected on scientific evidence; sex censorship is attacking the result rather than the cause of a problem. "The desire for pornographic literature is but the evidence that healthy and natural curiosity has grown morbid through the purist's success in suppressing the proper information."
-------. Why: "Obscene" Literature and Constitutional Law, a Forensic Defense of Freedom of the Press . . .; Is Not Sold to You. New York, Privately printed for forensic uses, 1911. 8p. S179
A prospectus for and defense of the author's book on obscenity, which, if sold, might violate the obscenity laws.
-------. "Why the 'Obscenity' Laws Should Be Annulled." Physical Culture, 18:169-70, September 1907. S180
The author gives eight reasons for repealing the postal laws on obscenity: (1) Congress has no implied power to make such regulations under the Constitution. (2) Our Constitution precludes the punishment of mere psychological crimes. (3) The laws are void under the First Amendment. (4) The statute furnishes no standard or test by which to differentiate that which is obscene from that which is not. (5) The statute, because of its uncertainty, presents no clear guide to citizens to enable them to keep from violating the law, and is therefore a violation of due process of law. (6) Every conviction is secured under an ex post facto law and, therefore, unconstitutional. (7) "When the law is uncertain there is no law." (8) Congress has delegated to courts not only the power to judge whether an act has been committed, but whether or not it constitutes a crime.
-------. Witchcraft and Obscenity; Twin Superstitions. New York, Free Speech League, 1912. 16p. (Portions appear in the Free Press Anthology, "Obscene" Literature and Constitutional Law, in Lucifer, the Light Bearer, 6 June 1907, and in Physical Culture, June 1907) S181
Obscenity, like witches, exists only in the mind. Schroeder criticizes those opponents of the censorship of obscenity who accept censorship in principle, but oppose its application to a particular work. "As for me, I am not content to protest merely against the abuse of arbitrary power; I want that power itself destroyed. . . . I demand that a searching and fearless inquiry be made as to the objective characteristics of obscenity as well as witches." Schroeder quotes from a letter he received from Havelock Ellis: "It seems to me that there can be no doubt whatever regarding the soundness of your view of 'obscenity' as residing exclusively, not in the thing contemplated, but in the mind of the contemplating person."
-------, comp. Free Press Anthology. New York, Free Speech League and the Truth Seeker, 1909. 267p. S182
Contents: Milton's Areopagitica, Peter Bayle's An Explanation Concerning Obscenities, historic defenses of free press made by John Locke, Robert Hall, Thomas Erskine, Tunis Wortman, Jeremy Bentham, Thomas Cooper, G. J. Holyoake and others; more recent statements relating to obscenity censorship by Louis F. Post, Robert Buchanan, B. O. Flower, Theodore A. Schroeder, and Edwin C. Walker; references to the obscenity cases against Moses Harman and D. M. Bennett. The appendix contains brief accounts of censorship cases against sex-literature: Dr. William W. Sanger's History of Prostitution, Mortimer A. Warren's Almost Fourteen, Clark's Marriage Guide, Havelock Ellis' Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Dr. C. W. Malchow's The Sexual Life, and Mrs. Ida C. Craddock's The Wedding Night. A bibliography of magazine articles by Schroeder on freedom of speech and press appears on pp. 264-67.
-------, ed. Edward Bond Foote. Biographical Notes and Appreciatives. New York, Free Speech League, 1913. 85p. S183
Appreciation of Dr. Foote as a friend of freedom of speech and the press and founder of the Free Speech League.
-------, ed. List of References on Birth-Control. New York, Wilson, 1918. 52p. S184 §
A list of books, pamphlets, and articles in English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Spanish and other languages in support of birth control.
-------, and John S. Sumner. "Should the Movies be Censored? Surely, Says Vice-Suppressing Chief. Why? Asks Free Speech Advocate." New York World, Editorial Section: 1, 3 April 1921. S185
Schultz, John. "Border Crossing." Evergreen Review, 30:99-112, May-June 1963. S186
A description of the grueling search for "treasonable" and "obscene" materials by U.S. Customs officials when the author crossed from Mexico to the United States at Laredo, Texas. Even standard works published and sold in the United States were suspect. The author's manuscript was seized and only returned by Customs after protest from the American Civil Liberties Union.
Schumach, Murray. The Face on the Cutting Room Floor; The Story of Movie and Television Censorship. New York, Morrow, 1964. 305p. S187
After considering Hollywood's current controversy over nudity on the screen, the author describes the events of the 1920's and 30's that led to the self-censorship of movies under the Production Code. In the second part, Quality and Control, he discusses particular movies that were the object of controversy--The Outlaw, The Moon is Blue, The Man With the Golden Arm, Streetcar Named Desire, From Here to Eternity, and Double Indemnity. Part 3 deals with Pressures and Politics, the activities of the Legion of Decency, pressures from such minority groups as the NAACP, Jewish organizations, and the quiet pressures of government agencies. In Part 4, Aftermath of Cowardice, the author discusses the blacklist of Hollywood actors, writers, and producers for their espousal of liberal or left wing causes, and the answer to the blacklist--"Hollywood Underground." Part 5, Boudoirs and Blood, treats in detail Hollywood's handling of themes of sex and violence. Part 6, Trial and Error, discusses the action of the courts in such movie censorship cases as The Miracle (Burstyn v. Wilson), Lady Chatterley's Lover (Kingsley International Pictures v. Regents), Garden of Eden (Excelsior Pictures Corp. v. Regents), and Don Juan (Times Film Corp. v. City of Chicago). Part 7 deals with television censorship, and Part 8, What Next?, considers future solutions to the movie censorship dilemma, including classification of movies. The Appendix contains: Curious Examples of Foreign Censorship, How Some Foreign Countries Classify Films, and the text of the Motion Picture Production Code.
Schuyler, Livingston R. The Liberty of the Press in the American Colonies before the Revolutionary War. With Particular Reference to Conditions in the Royal Colony of New York. New York, Thomas Whittaker, 1905. 86p. (Published also in Magazine of History, May-June, July, November and December 1905) S188
A study based largely on an examination of the records of the New York General Assembly and O'Callaghan's Documents Relative to the Colonial History of New York. Includes an account of the Zenger case. Chapter 1 deals with the press in England before the nineteenth century; chapter 2, the press in Massachusetts; chapter 3, the press in Pennsylvania; chapter 4, the press in New York; and chapter 5, conclusions and bibliography.
Schuyler, Philip. "2 Civil Liberties Champions Clash on Press Freedom." Editor and Publisher, 77(50):7+, 9 December 1944. S189
Arthur Garfield Hays is confident the press is and will remain free provided the government does not pass new restraining laws; Morris L. Ernst sees a grave threat in the "growing economic domination of the pipe-lines of mass communication."
Schwab, Jeffrey A. "Statute Prohibiting Obscene Materials in the Mails." Brooklyn Law Review, 29:325-28, April 1963. S190
A review of recent court decisions, including the case of Manuel Enterprises, Inc., et al. v. Day, 370 U.S. 478 (1962).
Schwartz, Bernard, ed. Protection of Public Morals through Censorship. New York, New York University School of Law, 1953. 88p. (Social Meaning of Legal Concepts, no. 5) S191
Contents: A Lawyer Looks at Censorship by James M. Landis; The View of an Artist by Elmer Rice; The Ethical Aspects of Censorship by Horace M. Kallen; and Some Effects of Censorship upon Society by Goodwin B. Watson. (Excerpts from the Watson paper appear in Daniels, The Censorship of Books, pp. 39-45.)
Schwartz, Elias. "Sir George Buc's Authority as Licenser for the Press." Shakespeare Quarterly, 12:467-68, Autumn 1961. S192
Quotes relevant parts of a letter from George Chapman to Sir George Buc upbraiding him for refusing Chapman a license to print Byron plays, the refusal evidently coming after the protest by the French Ambassador to the performance of these plays early in 1608.
Schwartz, Louis B. "Criminal Obscenity Law; Portents from Recent Supreme Court Decisions and Proposals of the American Law Institute in the Model Penal Code." Pennsylvania Bar Association Quarterly, 29:8-17, October 1957. S193
Deals with the tentative section on obscenity in the Model Penal Code (Section 207.10).
Schwartz, Murray L. "The Mail Must Not Go Through--Propaganda and Pornography." UCLA Law Review, 11:805-58, July 1964. S194
-------, and James C. N. Paul. "Foreign Communist Propaganda in the Mails: A Report on Some Problems of Federal Censorship." University of Pennsylvania Law Review, 107:621-66, March 1959. S195
The authors "report on these activities, examine the legal bases for the operation and weigh a number of legislative alternatives against the constitutional guarantee of free expression." Part of a study financed by the Fund for the Republic. A full-length book by the authors on censorship of the mail is entered under James C. N. Paul.
"Science Hush-Hushed." Time, 39:90, 11 May 1942. (Excerpt in Summers, Wartime Censorship, pp. 144-45) S196 §
The affect that wartime secrecy has on the reduction of scientific reporting at the meetings of national science societies.
Scileppi, John F. "Obscenity and the Law." New York Law Forum, 10:297-306, September 1964. S197
"The prevailing judicial attitude which has unwisely enlarged our historical concepts of freedom of the press has resulted in a violation of society's right to maintain and protect its moral fiber. Justice therefore requires the restoration of that balance which is essential to the preservation of conflicting constitutional rights."
Scofield, Cora L. A Study of the Court of Star Chamber, Largely Based on Manuscripts in the British Museum and the Public Record Office. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1900. 82p. S198
A study of the origin, composition, and action of the court, including its operation in the suppression of printing. Gives methods of procedure in trials.
Scoler, Jerome A. "Statutes Prohibiting Dissemination of Birth Control Knowledge." Boston University Law Review, 23:115-18, January 1943. S199
In the case of Tileston v. Ullman, 26 A (2d) 582 (Conn.) the court decided that the Connecticut statute against dissemination of birth control information does not violate either the Constitution of Connecticut or that of the United States.
"Scope of Blasphemy Laws." Truth Seeker, 43:838-39, 30 December 1916. S200
The case of Michael X. Mockus, under indictment in Connecticut for blasphemy, prompts this historical review and criticism of the blasphemy laws of England and the United States. Theodore A. Schroeder was the attorney for Mockus in the appeal before the District Court.
"Scope of Statutes Censoring Obscene Literature." Illinois Law Review, 40:417-21, January-February 1946. S201
The Massachusetts decision on Strange Fruit prompts the editor to review the interpretation of obscenity statutes by the courts. "At least one court has gone so far as to grant literature immunity from obscenity censorship provided obscene parts do not overbalance artistic or educational merits." This forces the court to determine what is artistic and educational and "this sort of determination is not a proper one for the court to make."
"The Scope of the PLAIFC: a Symposium." Pennsylvania Library Association Bulletin, 18:9-12, May 1963. S202
Comments by members of the executive board of the newly-created Intellectual Freedom Committee of the Pennsylvania Library Association with respect to the scope of the Committee.
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