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[W., G.]. Remarks Upon the Rights and Duties of Jurymen, in Trials for Libel, in a Letter Addressed to Jeremy Bentham. . . . London, Heward, 1831. 24p. (Signed G. W.) W1
The author maintains that in "matters of law, as well as matters of fact, by express written law, the jury are the sole judges in trials for libel, in whatever shape brought before them, by means of criminal process, as information, indictment, or by means of civil process, as an action at law for damages." From the beginning, the law of libel was intended to put down discussion, written and spoken, and to prevent the spread of intelligence. The power to suppress opinion, whether "possessed and exercised by one, few, or many, is equally indefensible; for it is tyranny and being tyranny, cannot be the rule of right."
W., W. R. "Extralegal Censorship Held Valid." Utah Law Review, 8:70-74, Summer 1962. W2
Regarding Bantam Books, Inc. v. Sullivan and the constitutionality of the Rhode Island Commission to Encourage Morality in Youth.
[Waddington, Samuel]. "Trial of Samuel Waddington for Publishing a Blasphemous Libel. Judgment of Abbott, C.J., Bayley, Holroyd, and William D. Best, J.J., on November 14, 1822, on Motion for a New Trial." In Macdonell, Report of State Trials, vol. 1, pp. 1339-43. W3 §
The defendant published a pamphlet in which Jesus Christ was referred to as an "imposter" and "a murderer in principle." Chief Justice Abbott directed the jury that the publication was a blasphemous libel; and the jury found Waddington guilty.
Wade, E. C. S. "Obscene Publications Act, 1959." Cambridge Law Journal, 1959:179-82, November 1959. W4
A discussion of the change in the British obscenity laws and the implication to protection of morals and freedom of literature.
Wadsworth, William S. "Newspaper and Crime." Bulletin, American Academy of Medicine, 12:316-25, October 1911. W5
The effect of the publication of crime news on behavior.
Wagman, Frederick H. "Freedom to Read--Active Voice." ALA Bulletin, 58:473-81, June 1964. W6 §
The president of the American Library Association in various meetings across the nation decided to talk about the freedom to read because it seemed "to lie at the very heart of our philosophy of librarianship, because the defense and the extension of this freedom are the most profound obligations we have and, for some of us, the most trying." One of the strongest weapons against censorship pressures, he writes, "would be a library accreditation system that had the respect of library and school boards and that could make it difficult to mistreat a librarian for doing his professional duty." He suggests an advisory service that could blacklist a library as an undesirable place to work, much as the American Association of University Professors is able to make a university squirm by issuing an unfavorable report if that university violates academic freedom. Freedom to read is also abridged by the scarcity of libraries--both public and school--in many parts of the nation, and by the denial of service to citizens because of race. "Of all our inadequacies," he writes, "the weakness of our college libraries seems to me the most distressing." Students who face an impoverished college library "are not truly free to read."
Wagner, Geoffrey A. Parade of Pleasure: A Study of Popular Iconography in the USA. New York, Library Publishers, 1955. 192p. W7
A British critic defends American freedom of expression despite the fact that this tolerance has permitted certain vulgar expressions in popular iconography--in the movies, television, the comic books, and the pin-up magazines. The book is a critical review of sex and sadism in American mass media.
Wagner, Robert W. "Motion Pictures in Relation to Social Control." In National Society for the Study of Education. Mass Media and Education, 53d Yearbook. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1954, pp. 54-79. W8 §
"Censorship of the motion pictures takes many forms. It is found in federal laws such as those regulating the import and export of films, in state and local censorship rulings, and in the self-imposed censorship of scripts and films by the Production Code Administration. Special-interest groups . . . may also voice disapproval of certain films . . . And finally, there is a kind of censorship which grows from the fact that truth is hard to portray."
Wagner, Ruth H. "What About Those Attacks on UNESCO?" Midland Schools, 67:12-13+, October 1952. (Reprinted in Daniels, The Censorship of Books, pp. 128-32) W9 §
Waisbrooker, Lois. "The Great Conspiracy." To-morrow (Chicago), 2:68-72, September 1906. W10
Criticizes postal censorship of radical sex and labor reformers.
-------, and Mattie D. Penhallow. "Our New Contest." Discontent, 4:1, 26 March 1902. W11
The account of an arrest because of an article, The Awful Fate of a Fallen Woman, published in Clothed in the Sun, December 1901. Miss Penhallow was postmistress at Home, Wash., and was arrested for forwarding the paper.
Waite, John B. "Administrative Censorship--the Esquire Decisions." Michigan Law Review, 43:1172-80, June 1945. W12
Relates to the denial by the Post Office Department of the second-class mailing privileges to Esquire and the disposal of the order by Judge Arnold of the Court of Appeals (Esquire, Inc. v. Walker, Postmaster General, App. D.C., 1945). Partial text of the hearing and the decision.
Wakefield, Dan. "An Unhurried View of Ralph Ginzburg." Playboy, 12:95-96, 172-77, October 1965. W13
". . . in which the trials, tribulations and temperment of the sorely pressed publisher of eros, fact and assorted erotica are dispassionately probed."
[Wakefield, Gilbert]. "Proceedings on the Trial of an Information . . . against Gilbert Wakefield, Clerk, for a Seditious Libel . . ., 1799." In Howell, State Trials, vol. 27, pp. 679 ff. W14 §
Reverend Wakefield, a church scholar, was convicted and given two years in prison for writing and publishing a pamphlet that was critical of the king, the Pitt administration, and the clergy. At the trial he spoke in his own behalf, adding fuel to the fire. He maintained his Christian right and duty to speak and write thusly. He was found guilty, imprisoned, and died shortly after his release.
Wakeman, Thaddeus B. Administrative Process of the Postal Department, A Letter to the President. [New York, Free Speech League, 1906]. 16p. W15 §
A letter to President Theodore Roosevelt from one of the nation's leading opponents of the Comstock postal laws. Wakeman considers these laws and their administration by the Post Office Department as a threat to the freedom of the press in America, a violation of the Bill of Rights, a uniting of Church and State, and an offense against humanity. He cites particularly the recent cases against Dr. Alice B. Stockman and Moses Harman, editor of Lucifer. The latter, aged 76, was given a year's sentence at hard labor for his publication on sex education for married women. Wakeman calls on President Roosevelt to instruct the Post Office Department to attend to postal affairs, leaving censorship to the courts.
-------. The Comstock Laws Considered as to Their Constitutionality; Being T. B. Wakeman's Faneuil Hall Speech, Replies to the Index, Judge E. P. Hurlbut's "Liberty of Printing," Mr. Wakeman's Reply, the Laws in Question, Various Letters from Eminent Men . . . New York, D. M. Bennett, 1880. 61p.; 67p. (Truth Seeker Tracts nos. 44 and 150 bound together with a common title page and an introduction by T. B. Wakeman) W16
Contents: (1) A letter from T. B. Wakeman to the officers of the third Convention of the National Liberal League (New York), 8 August 1878, in which he reiterates his opposition to the Comstock act. (2) Reprint of Wakeman's address delivered at the "Indignation Meeting," Faneuil Hall, Boston, 1878, on the arrest of Ezra H. Heywood, editor of The Word. (3) Justice Field's opinion in the case of A. Orlando Jackson (1877), Supreme Court of the United States, affirming the constitutionality of the Comstock act. (4) Wakeman's answers to criticism of his Faneuil Hall speech in The Index. (5) E. P. Hurlbut's address to the second convention of the National Liberal League, 1878. The address, entitled The Liberty of Printing, endorsing the Blackstone view that freedom of the press consists of freedom from prior restraint, not freedom from penalties after publication. Hurlbut defends the Post Office action against obscenity. (6) Wakeman's reply to the Hurlbut speech in a letter entitled, The Campaign against Unconstitutional Postal Laws and Espionage over the Mails. (7) Letters recommending repeal of the Comstock laws from James Parton, O. B. Frothingham, Elizur Wright, and others.
-------. Liberty and Purity. How to Secure Both Safely, Effectively, and Impartially. An Address before the Committee on Charitable and Religious Societies of the Assembly of the State of New York in Opposition to a Bill to Largely Increase the Criminal Jurisdiction and Powers of the Society for the Suppression of Vice. March 23, 1881. New York, Liberal Publishing Co., 1881. 92p. W17
A bill before the legislature called for sweeping police powers to be given to the New York Comstock society. Mr. Wakeman, a New York lawyer and leader in the National Liberal League, presented to the Committee a substitute bill to return the enforcement of the obscenity laws to local district attorneys and to limit the vice society to "persuasive, advisory, charitable, educational, missionary, and religious means" of suppressing vice. The testimony is a strong attack on vice societies in general and the tactics of Anthony Comstock in particular. Wakeman brings testimony against the Comstock bill from members of the National Liberal League and cites the attacks of the vice society against such liberals as Ezra Heywood, Elizur Wright, Robert Ingersoll, Dr. E. B. Foote, O. B. Frothingham, and others.
[Wakley, Thomas]. Report of the Trial, Cooper versus Wakley, for Libel. From the Notes of W. B. Gurney, Esq. . . . with Remarks on the Evidence, by Bransby B. Cooper, Surgeon, and Lecturer on Anatomy at Guy's Hospital. London, Printed for S. Highley, 1829. 182p. W18
Bransby Blake Cooper, surgeon at Guy's Hospital, London, charged the defendant, Mr. Wakley, editor of Lancet, with publishing two articles in that journal allegedly ridiculing his professional conduct in an operation for lithotomy. The articles, written for the Lancet by a surgeon who witnessed the operation, further suggested that Cooper was incompetent and held his position because he was the nephew of Sir Ashley Cooper, noted surgeon. Wakley conducted his own defense, and in an unusual procedure was permitted by the judge, Lord Tenterden, to present his case before that of the plaintiff. The jury found Wakley guilty, but damages were so small (£100) as to establish Wakley's main contention of malpractice. Wakley's expenses were defrayed by public subscription. In a long career of crusading for medical and hospital reform Wakley was often involved in litigation. In 1826 he was awarded £100 damages for a libel on him in the Medico-Chirurgical Journal. Wakley founded the Lancet in 1823 to publish accounts of medical lectures, hitherto regarded as the exclusive property of members of hospital staffs who received lucrative fees. Attempts were made to secure an injunction against publication, but Lord Elden ruled that lectures given in public places were public property. The Cooper articles were part of a series in the Lancet intended to reveal evidence of malpractice, incompetence, and nepotism in London hospitals. This edition of the trial is liberally footnoted by Cooper, who considered the outcome of the trial a complete vindication of his professional competence.
Wald, Jerry. "Movie Censorship: The First Wedge." Saturday Review, 44(14):53-54, 8 April 1961. W19
The recent decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in upholding (4 to 5) the right of the Chicago Police Commissioner to require censorship of films is "a shock to anyone who cherishes the provisions of our Constitution's First Amendment. . . . It is, in effect, a backhanded tribute to the unique power of film as a medium of communication that the film has been singled out to be censored in this fashion." The author disapproves of film censorship by local, state, or national boards, preferring the self-censorship of the industry. "The Code seems to remain the most valid way of dealing with the ever-hovering threat of censorship." Wald also disapproves the adoption of the British system of film classification. The best solution to the problem of preventing children from seeing undesirable films is for parents to exercise their authority and judgment as to what films their children are permitted to see.
Walford, Edward. "Life of Lord Erskine." In Speeches of Thomas Lord Erskine . . . With Memoir of His Life by Edward Walford. London, Reeves & Turner, 1870. vol. 1, pp. vii-xxiv. W20
"It is almost superfluous to remind the legal reader what great services Lord Erskine rendered to posterity by his advocacy and assertion of the Liberty of the Press, and by his definition of the Law of Libel, or that, in his day [1750-1823] he was the principal agent in the work of improving the state of the law on these all-important subjects."
[Walker, Clement]. The Triall of Lieut.-Collonell John Lilburne at the Guild-Hall of London, 24, 25, 26 Oct. [1649]. London, Published by Thoedorus Verax, [1649]. 166p. (Verax is the pseudonym for Clement Walker) W21
One of the numerous contemporary accounts of the sedition trial of Lilburne.
Walker, Edwin A. Censorship and Survival. New York, Bookmailer, 1961. 67p. W22
The text of Major General Walker's statement to the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee charging censorship, following his removal from command of the 24th Infantry Division in the controversy over his "Pro-Blue" indoctrination program. Included is the text of the controversial training circular and commentary by Ike McAnally.
Walker, Edwin C. "The Country's Postal Censor." Lucifer, The Light Bearer, 12(35):2, 14 December 1896. W23
Anthony Comstock and the vice societies.
-------. The Ethics of Freedom. You and the Other Man is The Covenant of Liberty . . . New York, Walker, 1913. 24p. W24
Dinner address at the Sunrise Club, 24 February 1913. Appendix includes Walker's letter to The Globe, What Does "Free Speech" Include?
-------. The Revival of Puritanism. New York, Free Speech League, 1903. 13p. W25
In a paper read before the Sunrise Club, Walker predicts a revival of puritan repression in the twentieth century. Among the prohibitive measures he cites are censorship of the mails under the Comstock law, and local pressures against newsstands and theaters. He quotes Frances Willard, in her address before the WCTU, as advocating the creation of a cabinet position, Secretary of Amusements, whose duty would be to determine what plays would be presented.
-------. Who Is the Enemy; Anthony Comstock or You? New York, The Author, 1903. 63p. W26
This caustic criticism of Comstock and the work of the vice societies was written by a crusading freethinker who was active in the National Liberal League and associated with the papers, Lucifer and The Truth Seeker.
Walker, George. Substance of the Speech of the Rev. Mr. Walker at the General Meeting of the County of Nottingham, held at Mansfield, on Monday, the 28th of February, 1780. To Which Is Added Mr. Thomson's Preface to a Speech of Mr. John Milton, for the Liberty of Unlicensed Printing, to the Parliament of England. First Published in the Year 1644. London, The Society for Constitutional Information, 1780. 12p. W27 §
Walker, J. "The Censorship of the Press during the Reign of Charles II." History, 35 (n.s.):219-38, October 1950. W28
Discussion of the creation and operation of the Licensing Act of 1662 and the monopolistic activities of the Stationers' Company. In 1668 the Stationers' Company was made responsible for suppressing the trade in libels.
Walker, Jerry. "Civil Liberties Union Considers Free Radio." Editor and Publisher, 78:34, 1 December 1945. W29
A report on needed changes in the regulation of federal laws on freedom of the air as discussed at the 25th annual conference of the American Civil Liberties Union.
Walker, Roy. "Sense and Censorability." Twentieth Century, 163:554-57, June 1958. W30
"The case against British stage censorship is not that Bowdler is now in control and our stage is fast becoming one dark repertory of repressions in consequence. It is that compulsory licensing is an effective standing deterrent to the composition of new plays dealing directly with what are, for obvious reasons, the dynamic sources for contemporary drama--controversial beliefs, politics and sex."
Walker, Stanley. "'Book Branding'; a Case History." New York Times Magazine, 12 July 1953, pp. 11, 20-21. W31
An account of the crusade against Communist books in the San Antonio, Texas, public library led by Mrs. Myrtle Glasscock Hance and opposed by M. M. Harris, head of the library's board of trustees. Mrs. Hance proposed that library books written by Communist sympathizers bear a warning stamp.
-------. "The Newspaper and Crime." In Attorney General's Conference on Crime. Proceedings, 1934. Washington, D.C., Govt. Print. Off., 1936, pp. 98-103. W32
"In general . . . I am in favor of the merciless, complete printing of all the news of crime, even of crime photographs. In no other way can the public be shaken out of its natural lethargy . . . I believe it is better for the public to be fully informed, whether the facts are pleasant or shocking, than to remain ignorant." He also defends the gangster picture. Walker was then city editor of the New York Herald Tribune.
Wall, Bernard T. "Ordinance Requiring Submission of Motion Pictures for Examination and Licensing Prior to Exhibition Not Void Per Se." University of Illinois Law Forum, 1961:332-36, Summer 1961. W33
Times Film Corp. v. City of Chicago, 365 U.S. 43 (1961).
Wall, James M. "Toward Christian Film Criteria." Christian Century, 82:775-78, 16 June 1965. W34
"How are we to obtain freedom of artistic expression in view of the temptation to exploit salaciousness for its own sake?"
Wall, Patrick M. "Obscenity and Youth: The Problem and a Possible Solution." Criminal Law Bulletin, 1(8):28-39, October 1965. W35
Includes text and analysis of New York State's new obscenity statute, intended to protect youth but liberalize freedom for adult literature.
Wall, Thomas H. "Program Evaluation by the Federal Communications Commission: an Unconstitutional Abridgement of Free Speech?" Georgetown Law Journal, 40:1-40, November 1951. W36
Wallace, Mrs. George R. "It Has Happened in Massachusetts." Massachusetts Library Association Bulletin, 43:4-5, January 1953. W37
An account of the attack on the Boston Public Library for allegedly possessing and circulating Communist propaganda. The author is president of the Trustee Association of the MLA.
Wallace, Irving. "A Problem Author Looks at Problem Librarians." Library Journal, 87:2293-97, 15 June 1962. W38
Too many librarians judge modern works of fiction "not for what they say, or have to say, but because their central theme troubles the reviewer or librarian, or rubs his or her neurosis the wrong way, or makes his life uneasy when he or she simply wants it easy--smooth, slick, and easy." Wallace believes that librarians and authors have much in common and a mutual need for each other. While recognizing the leadership of many librarians in upholding the freedom to read, he addresses his criticism to those who stand guard between an author and his public. He concludes: "If you will accept into your vocabulary one seven letter word--courage--you will need worry less about all our four letter words."
Wallas, Graham. The Life of Francis Place, 1771-1854. London, Longmans, Green, 1898. 415p. (Reprinted in New York by Burt Franklin, 1951) W39
Place was a radical reformer, remembered for his efforts in behalf of Chartism, the trade union movement, and birth control. He also joined with Henry Hetherington, James Mill, and Richard Carlile in opposing the newspaper stamp tax. He was associated with Roebuck in publishing the unstamped weekly pamphlet series, which are said to have reached a sale of 10,000. The stamp tax was not repealed until 1855, a year after Place's death. This biography has numerous references to Place's efforts in behalf of freedom of the press.
-------. "The Price of Tolerance." Atlantic Monthly, 125:116-18, January 1920. W40
The author reports on the suppression of Thorstein Veblen's Imperial Germany, and pleads for greater tolerance for radicals.
Waller, Theodore. "Paper-Bound Books and Censorship." ALA Bulletin, 47:474-76, November 1953. W41 §
"The censors argue that the low price and wide availability of paper-bound books make them more a threat to the immature and impressionable reader than the more expensive original editions of the same books." The author objects to the double standard. The only tenable position is to take a book as a book whatever the format and to deal with censorship as an invidious process wherever it is found. The American Book Publishers Council of which the author is managing director, "is militantly opposing censorship, whether it strikes first at the newsstand, library or bookstore."
Wallis, C. Lamar. "Too Much Ado About Too Little." ALA Bulletin, 59:100, February 1965. W42 §
The director of the Memphis Public Library takes issue with Ervin Gaines's charges of censorship in Memphis, made in the Intellectual Freedom column of the ALA Bulletin. No library or bookstore has been visited by police and, except for a flurry of activity over a handful of "girlie" magazines, Memphis is relatively free of censorship by organized citizen groups or the police. "Contrary to the expressed belief of some librarians, I do not feel it my duty to defend to death every scrap of paper which happens to be run through a printing press. If private individuals want to sell for profit the girlie magazines let them do so at their own risk before the courts."
Walpole, Sir Hugh. The Freedom of Books. [London, National Book Council, 1940?]. 4p. Reprinted in Classics in Sociology, pp. 145-50. W43
"For many centuries now the Englishman has enjoyed perfect freedom in the reading of any kind of literature . . . So the freedom of books is indestructible, and the men and women of our country, with all their faults and lacks, are made of this freedom. No government is tolerable to them for a moment that tries to prevent their right to think for themselves, often studying all the evidence, past and present. That trust in their independence is their right, won through years of conflict, and never again, to any power on this earth will they surrender it."
Walsh, J. Herbert. "Is the New Judicial and Legislative Interpretation of Freedom of Speech, and of the Freedom of the Press, Sound Constitutional Development?" Georgetown Law Journal, 21:35-50, November 1932; 21:161-91, January 1933. W44 §
Beginning with the Sedition Act of 1798, the author traces the judicial and legislative development of the modern concept of freedom of the press. The First Amendment prevents Congress from abridging freedom of speech or of the press, but under the Sedition Act and as late as 1907 freedom meant only freedom from prior restraint. This Blackstonian interpretation was overruled by cases decided under the Espionage Act of 1917. Our protection today rests in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court which contains judges who look first to the protection of the people. One group acts as a counterbalance to the other.
Walsh, William T. "Cut Out By the 'Movie' Censor." Illustrated World, 27:14-19+, March 1917. W45
The author observes a film being cut by eight censors and by the motion picture producer. He proposes that movies be divided into two classes--those which are uncensored to be forbidden to minors, and those passed by the censor to be open to all classes and ages. The photoplay is fighting for recognition, for freedom as a legitimate medium of expression.
Walters, Basil. An Editor Asks a Big "Why?" Columbia, Mo., Freedom of Information Center, School of Journalism, University of Missouri, 1958. 3p. (Publication no. 7) W46 §
Referring to a Purdue University poll which showed that 41 per cent of high school students polled would cancel freedom of the press, the executive editor of the Chicago Daily News asks the question: How did these children get that way? Excerpts from his remarks in a panel discussion at a PTA meeting.
Walters, Fred. "The Supreme Court Ruling on The Miracle and Pinky . . . " Theatre Arts, 36:74-77, August 1952. W47
Comments on the U.S. Supreme Court decision lifting bans imposed by local censorship boards against the movies, The Miracle and Pinky.
Walther, Louis R. Freedom of the Press in the Americas. Stanford, Calif., Stanford University, 1939. 45p. (Unpublished Master's thesis) W48
Walton, Clyde C. "Intellectual Freedom for Librarians." Iowa Library Quarterly, 16:195-96, April 1952. W49
[Walwyn, William]. The Compassionate Samaritane . . . 2d ed. London, 1644. 79p. (Reproduced in Haller, Tracts on Liberty in the Puritan Revolution, vol. 3, pp. 61-104) W50
Walwyn, a member of the Levellers, was one of the first Englishmen to write forcefully in behalf of freedom of conscience. This tract, published anonymously without license earlier in the same year that Milton's more famous Areopagitica appeared, was a criticism of printing regulations. While recognizing the need for some form of regulation of the press, Walwyn believed that the Puritan divines went too far in suppressing religious opposition. He was one of the first to point out the impracticality of a licensing system and to question the judgment of the licensers.
-------. The Fountain Of Slaunder Discovered. By William Walwyn, Merchant With Some passages concerning his present Imprisonment in the Tower of London. Published for satisfaction of Friends and Enemies. London, Printed by H. Hils, 1649. 26p. W51
The author's account of his arrest and conviction, along with Lilburne, Overton, and Prince, for circulation of Leveller pamphlets.
[-------]. To the right Honourable and supreme Authority of this Nation, the Commons in Parliament Assembled. London, 1647. 7p. W52
This pamphlet, believed to have been written by Walwyn, was one of several petitions submitted by the Levellers to the House of Commons to secure basic freedoms, including the right to publish religious opinions. It presented a 13-point program of civil liberties. The pamphlet was ordered burned by the common hangman. (Reproduced in Haller, Tracts on Liberty in the Puritan Revolution, vol. 3, pp. 399-405)
"War Against the Smut Peddlers." Changing Times, 14:19-22, August 1960. W53
A detailed plan for community action against the pornographer who preys on youngsters. Recommends legal action rather than economic boycotts.
"War and a Free Press." Outlook, 116:56-57, 9 May 1917. W54
"Congress ought to protect the right of the Administration to prevent the publication of news which it deems injurious to the public interest; and it ought to protect the right of the public through the press to criticize freely the public acts and public policies of the Administration."
"The War on the Minnesota Law." Literary Digest, 104:13, 1 February 1930. (Reprinted in Beman, Censorship of Speech and the Press, pp. 212-15) W55 §
An attack on the Minnesota "gag law" which has reduced press freedom in Minnesota "to about the freedom of a strait-jacket." The text of the statute is reprinted in Beman, pp. 216-18.
Warburg, Frederic J. "Onward and Upward with the Arts: A Slight Case of Obscenity." New Yorker, 33:106-33, 20 April 1957. W56
An account of the author's trial in 1954 in London's Old Bailey for publishing "an obscene book," Stanley Kauffmann's The Philanderer. The defendant, a member of the publishing firm of Martin Secker & Warburg, London, was acquitted.
Ward, Harry F. "Repression of Civil Liberties in the United States." Publications of the American Sociological Society, 18:127-46, 1924. W57
"This discussion summarizes recent developments in relation to free speech, in the field of law--federal, state and municipal. . . . It assembles the evidence concerning administrative interference with civil liberties--from the Department of Justice down through state officials to municipal authorities. It then reviews the attitudes of the public mind as shown by mob violence, anti-radical propaganda, attacks upon the American Civil Liberties Union, and the relations of the legal profession to our constitutional guarantees of freedom."
[Ward, William V.]. "Provincetown Review on Trial . . ." Provincetown Review, 5, Winter 1961. 62p. plus. W58 §
The entire issue is devoted to the trial of the editor of the Provincetown Review (Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. William V. Ward), 17 August 1961, for publication of an offending short story, Tralala, by Herbert Selby, Jr. This issue reprints the story together with a transcript of the trial.
Warfield, Ethelbert D. Kentucky Resolutions of 1798, an Historical Study. New York, Putnam's, 1887. 203p. W59
A study of the Kentucky Resolutions composed by Thomas Jefferson in opposition to the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798.
Warne, Colston E. Caveat Venditor. Columbia, Mo., Freedom of Information Center, School of Journalism, University of Missouri, 1961. 6p. (Publication no. 51) W60 §
A professor of economics discusses the ethical and social responsibilities in advertising and sales practices. To protect the consumer he argues for a legally enforced responsibility for accurate information about a firm's product (caveat venditor) to supplement the prohibitions against false advertising. "The truth is not a residue left after falsehood has been eliminated; information does not necessarily fill the gap left when misinformation has been erased."
Warner, Bob. "Canon 35: The Case for the Defendant." U.S. Camera, 26(7):64-65, 92, 97, July 1963. W61
In the conflict between the right of the photographer to take pictures and the right of the defendant to have a fair trial, the defendant's right should take precedence.
Warner, H. C. Threatened Standards: Erotic Elements in Current Publications. London, S. C. M. Press, [1954?]. 11p. (Sex Education Booklets). W62
The author is a canon of the church.
Warner, Harry P. Radio and Television Law. Albany, Matthew Bender, 1948. 1 vol. loose-leaf. W63
A standard reference book on the legal and regulatory structure of the radio industry, kept up-to-date by cumulative supplements.
Warner, Rex. "Freedom in Literary and Artistic Creation." In UNESCO's Freedom and Culture. New York, Columbia University Press, 1951, pp. 305-28. W64
The sphere in which the creative writer works is "beyond politics and different from religion" and "any dictation or control exercised over writers and artists by political or religious bodies is bound to be both dangerous and constricting." Education, leisure, and freedom from outside censorship, control, or dictation are the chief demands that the creative artist makes on society.
Warren, C. Henry. "Freedom at the B.B.C." Bookman (London), 86:38, April 1934. W65 §
An account of William Ferrie, who, instead of giving a talk over the B.B.C. as arranged, made an impromptu protest of the censorship of his text by B.B.C. until he was cut off.
Warren, Charles. Jacobin and Junto; or, Early American Politics as Viewed in the Diary of Dr. Nathaniel Ames, 1758-1822. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press, 1931. 324p. W66
The frank diary of this fiery partisan of the Antifederalist party, devotes considerable attention to the conflict over the Alien and Sedition Acts and the libel trials that resulted.
Warren, Fred D. Suppressed Information and Federal Court Speech. Chicago, Charles H. Kerr, [1910?]. 63p. W67
Warren was convicted of sending a publication by mail with a wrapper containing scurrilous matter.
Warren, Samuel D., and Louis D. Brandeis. "The Right to Privacy." Harvard Law Review, 4:193-220, 15 December 1890. W68
A classic statement on the Anglo-American law relating to the individual's right to withhold or to communicate his thoughts and feelings.
Warren, Sidney. American Freethought, 1860-1914. New York, Columbia University Press, 1943. 257p. (Studies in History, Economics and Public Law no. 504) W69
Since the American free-thought movement was often concerned with issues of free speech and press, this history of the movement contains numerous references to censorship, both in matters of religion (blasphemy) and obscenity. Included is an account of the Charles Reynolds blasphemy case and the schism in the National Liberal League in 1878 over an attack on the Comstock acts (modification or repeal). The publication, Truth Seeker, representing the extreme left wing of the free-thought movement, and a long-time champion of a free press (D. W. Bennett was once its editor) is mentioned throughout.
Warren, William C., et al. "Community Security vs. Man's Right to Knowledge." Columbia Law Review, 54:667-837, May 1954. W70
The dean of the School of Law, Columbia University, wrote the introduction to this issue which contains symposium papers delivered as part of Columbia's bicentennial. Dean Warren reviews the historic struggle of "man's right to the free use of knowledge," the theme of the bicentennial. This is followed by articles on the experience of religious groups in freedom of expression: Judaism (Robert Gordis); Roman Catholicism (Francis J. Connell); Islam (Saba Habacky); and Protestantism (Robert T. Handy). The experience of national states is reported for Great Britain (Sir Hartley Shawcross), The Soviet Union, France, China, Canada (Ivan C. Rand), Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and The Netherlands.
Warshow, Robert. "Paul, and Horror Comics, and Dr. Wertham." In Rosenberg and White. Mass Culture. Glencoe, Ill., Free Press, 1957, pp. 199-211. W71
While disagreeing with Dr. Wertham on the serious affect of comic books on juvenile delinquency, the author favors some form of regulation of the worst of the comic books and believes that no real problem of freedom of expression is involved, except that it may be difficult to frame a law that would not open the way to a wider censorship. The problem of regulation is more difficult than Dr. Wertham imagines.
Wasby, Stephen L. "Public Law, Politics, and the Local Courts: Obscene Literature in Portland." Journal of Public Law (Emory University Law School), 14:105-30, 1965. W72
A case study of a campaign against obscene literature which took place in Portland, Ore., in 1959. "In addition to portraying the impact of local courts on politics, the case study also illustrated the utilization of an advisory committee by executive officials in an attempt to secure their goals."
Washington Library Association. "Statement on Freedom to Read." Library News Bulletin (Washington State Library), 26:91-92, July 1959. W73
Wasilewski, Vincent T. Payola and Government Controls. Columbia, Mo., Freedom of Information Center, School of Journalism, University of Missouri, 1960. 4p. (Publication no. 30) W74 §
An official of the National Association of Broadcasters lists objections and counterproposals by that organization to the various recommendations for regulating the broadcast industry in light of "payola" and other abuses.
"The Watch and Ward Society of Censorship." Massachusetts Library Club Bulletin, 17:70-71, October 1927. W75
A review of the recent history of the vice society, the appointment of Charles S. Bodwell to succeed the late J. Frank Chase as secretary, and the text of Bodwell's statement to the press on the future of the organization.
Watchet, H. Mitchell. "The Arrest and Trial of the Editor." Physical Culture, 15:582-84, June 1906. W76
Bernarr Macfadden, editor of Physical Culture, was arrested in his editorial office by Anthony Comstock for "giving away obscene prints." Macfadden appeared before the Court of Special Sessions where he was found guilty, but because of a divided Court no punishment was fixed. The Court refused to admit expert witnesses to testify on whether or not the work was obscene.
Watkins, A. T. L. "Film Censorship in Britain." In Penguin Film Review, 9:61-66, 1949. W77
The secretary of the British Board of Film Censors discusses the work of that agency. In judging films the Board considers three main questions: Is it likely to impair the moral standards of the audience? Is the story, incident, or dialogue likely to give offense to any reasonably minded section of the public? What will be the effect of the movie on children? "Censorship is only news when it makes a mistake."
Watrous, A. E. "The Newspaper and the Individual: a Plea for Press Censorship." Lippincott's Monthly Magazine, 45:267-70, February 1890. W78
As an editor "the fact that has struck me with the greatest force in the relation of the newspaper to the individual is the utter inadequacy of the present libel law to protect either party." The author calls for the creation of an extrajudicial body which shall, with the approval of the legislative body, erect its own code, defining the functions of a newspaper, protecting its use of these functions, and punishing its abuse. The author was editor of the Philadelphia Press.
Watrous, George D. "The Newspaper before the Law." Yale Law Journal, 9:1-16, October 1899. W79
A brief history of press freedom during the nineteenth century
Watson, E. H. L. "A Censorship of Fiction, and Some Other Matters." Dial, 50:296-98, 16 April 1911. W80
A letter from the London correspondent describes present literary and stage censorship in England. He discusses George Bernard Shaw's relationship to the Select Committee of Parliament and the pressures for censorship by certain groups. The only remedy for censorship is to wait for public taste to improve.
Watson, Francis. "Thou Shalt Not Read. . . . " Bookman (London), 84:290-91, September 1933. W81
The writer examines two parallel lists: the Index of the Catholic Church and a French publication listing approved and disapproved books on surrealism. He argues that to neglect to study the opposing case "implies either unjustifiable self-sufficiency or else an admission of the weakness of one's own case, which must thus deliberately be protected from criticism. Such consideration, of course, applies directly to any form of literary censorship."
Watson, G. B. "Periodicals of Change--Propaganda." Pacific Northwest Library Association Proceedings, 27:85-87, 1936. W82
To refuse to handle periodicals advocating a fundamental change in our social system "is for the library to disclaim the necessity of inquiry, to be glaringly undemocratic." The library "would become an agent of repression and would ally itself with the very forces causing the discontent . . . The function of a periodical collection is, among other things, to present a cross section of contemporary opinion."
[Watson, James]. A Report of the Trial of James Watson for Having Sold a Copy of Palmer's Principles of Nature, at the Shop of Mr. Carlile . . . on the 24th Day of April, 1823, before Mr. Const, as chairman, and a Common Jury. London, R. Carlile, 1825. 28p. W83
Watson was found guilty and sentenced to a year in prison.
Watson, John S. Biographies of John Wilkes and William Cobbett. Edinburgh, Blackwood, 1870. 407p. W84
An English clergyman interprets two figures in the fight for freedom of the press. He considers Wilkes a selfish, indulgent, fraudulent charmer, without a redeeming quality. Cobbett, he finds, was a man of good character and temperate habits, but erratic and mischievious in his attacks on the popular opinions of his day. G. D. H. Cole characterizes Watson's work on Cobbett as "poor stuff."
Watson, Richard. Sermon Preached before the Society for the Suppression of Vice in the Parish Church of St. George, Hanover Square, on Thursday, the 3d of May, 1804 . . . to which are added the Plan of the Society, a Summary of the Proceedings and a List of its Members. London, Printed for the Society by T. Woodfall, [1804]. 72p. W85
[Watson, Thomas E.]. "Attorney General Does Not Realize the Lawlessness of His Threatened Proceedings Against Watson." Watson's Jeffersonian Magazine, 22:302-7, April 1916. W86
Watson, a self-styled Jeffersonian democrat and twice candidate for the presidency on the Populist ticket, used his two journals, Watson's Jeffersonian Magazine (monthly) and The Jeffersonian (weekly), to express violent opposition to socialism and Catholicism and to promote his own economic and social views. He was three times indicted but never convicted on obscenity charges for his book, The Roman Catholic Hierarchy (1910), and articles in his papers "exposing" the confessional. This article deals with efforts of the attorney general to prosecute Watson outside the jurisdiction (Atlanta, Ga.) where his magazine was published.
[-------]. "The End of the Watson Case; or, How the Roman Catholic Priests Strive to Crush Those Who Expose Their Vices, their Crimes, and their Systematic Underhanded Work, Against Civil and Religious Liberty." Watson's Jeffersonian Magazine, 24:129-230, January 1917. W87
[-------]. "How the Liberty of the Press is Attacked in the Watson Case." Jeffersonian, 12:1-4, 9 December 1915. W88
Editor Watson discusses behind-the-scenes and extralegal motives for prosecuting him on the "obscene" exposure of the Catholic confessional. His own speech at the trial is reported in the 2 December 1915 issue.
[-------]. "Official Record of Case of United States v. Thomas E. Watson." Watson's Jeffersonian Magazine, 22:111-68, February 1916. W89
A report of Watson's trial on charges of obscenity for sending through the mail a book entitled, The Roman Catholic Hierarchy, which was critical of the Catholic confessional. The jury disagreed and Watson was acquitted.
Watt, D. C. "Foreign Affairs, the Public Interest and the Right to Know." Political Quarterly, 34:121-36, April 1963. W90
While retired service officers and former ministers are free to consult and publish recent documents, historians are generally restricted to documents not less than 50 years old.
Watts, Alan. "Sculpture by Ron Boise: The Kama Sutra Theme." Evergreen Review, 9(36):64-65, June 1965. W91 §
A transcript of Alan Watts's impromptu talk at a showing of Ron Boise's sculpture at Big Sur Hot Springs. Eleven of his sculptures from the Kama Sutra theme, exhibited at the San Francisco Vorpal Gallery in April 1964, brought about the arrest of the gallery owners and a salesman on obscenity charges, and confiscation of the statuary. After a nine-day trial the jury acquitted the defendants and released the statuary. Watts speaks of the statuary as "pushing the line back" in the same way that Miller, Lawrence, and Joyce did in literature. Where do we draw the line in the expression of intimacy--what is "on-scene" and what is "off-scene" or "obscene"? The article is illustrated with photographs of eight of the statues.
Watts, G. T. "Some Great Advocates: Thomas Erskine." Law Times, 223:175-77, 5 April 1957. W92
Way, H. Frank, Jr. "Freedom of the Press: Censorship and Obscenity." In his Liberty in the Balance: Current Issues in Civil Liberties. New York, McGraw-Hill, 1964, pp. 29-51. W93
Part of a series, Foundations of American Government and Political Science, to serve the need of an introductory course in American government.
"The 'Ways of Love' Controversy." Life, 30:59-60+, 15 January 1951. W94
Controversy over the showing of the film, The Miracle, with a brief account of the story and scenes from it.
"We Refuse to Review This Book." Time & Tide, 44(14):21, 10 April 1963. W95
An attack on Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer as "the dirtiest book ever to reach British bookstalls." The author considers the prospects for its prosecution in Great Britain under the Obscene Publications Act of 1959.
Weatherford, John. "Drapery for Diego." Library Journal, 91:646, 1 February 1966. W96
In his On the Grindstone column the author deals whimsically with the theme of censorship. The title comes from the suggestion by a citizen that a curtain be hung over the Diego Rivera murals in the art museum until the Communist menace passed.
Weaver, George. "Revolving Obscenity: Nudists and Prudes." Open Road, 42(2):4-6+, February 1942. W97
Weaver, Robert. "Lady Chatterley and All That." Tamarack Review, 21:49-57, Autumn 1961 W98
The editor reviews current censorship practices in Canada, the efforts of pressure groups, the semiofficial action of advisory committees on obscene literature, and the official action of Canadian Customs. He considers recent court decisions and contrasts the strict Canadian interpretation of obscenity statutes with the liberalized interpretation in England under the Obscene Publications Act of 1959.
Weaver, Sylvester L., Jr. "Why Suppress Pay TV? The Fight in California." Atlantic, 214(4):55-59, October 1964. W99
The president of Subscription TV, Inc., describes pay TV and the fight for it that is taking place in California, where opposition comes from motion picture exhibitors. The TV broadcasters, an unofficial spokesman for the Federation of Women's Clubs, and a large portion of the public has been led to believe (falsely) that they would be required to pay for commercial programs now on the air.
Webb, Julian. "Conscripting the News: What the Brass Hats Are Trying to Keep 100,000,000 Newspaper Readers from Learning; The Censorship Technique and the Men Behind It; Shades of the Creel Committee." New Masses, 39(9):9-11, 20 May 1941. W100 §
Charges that government censors are going beyond that necessary for the war.
Webb, Philip C., comp. Copies taken from the Records of the Court of King's Bench . . . the original Office Books of the Secretaries of State, or from the Originals under Seal, of Warrants issued by Secretaries of State, for seizing persons suspected of being guilty of various crimes, particularly of being the authors, printers and publishers of Libels, from the Restoration to the present time, Etc. London, 1763. 80p. W101
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