ASSOCIATE JUSTICE LEWIS F. POWELL JR. - PRINTED SYLLABUS SIGNED IN INK CIRCA 1973 - HFSID 84229

LEWIS F. POWELL
First Amendment case re: importing obscene material for personal use.
Syllabus signed: "Lewis F. Powell, Jr." as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, 20p, 5¾x9. Supreme Court opinion in the case of "United States v 12 200-Ft. Reeks of Super 8mm film et al" decided June 21, 1973. Powell joined in the 5-4 majority opinion. In part: "On April 2, 1970, the claimant Paladini sought to carry movie films, color slides, photographs and other printed and graphic material into the United States from Mexico. The materials were seized as being obscene by customs officers at a port of entry, Los Angeles Airport...." The District Court for the Central District of California ruled that the law prohibiting the importation of obscene matter even for the importer's private, personal use was unconstitutional. On appeal, the Supreme Court vacated and remanded the case to the District Court "for reconsideration in light of the First Amendment standards newly enunciated by this Court...." Democrat Lewis F. Powell, Jr. (1907-1998) was appointed Associate Justice by President Nixon. Commissioned on December 9, 1971, he was sworn in on January 7, 1972 and served for 15 years, five months and 19 days before retiring on June 26, 1987. Serving under both Chief Justices Warren Burger and William H. Rehnquist (from 1986), Powell, who had been a moderate before joining the Court, often found himself as the swing vote in a number of important cases. His votes decided the Court's first confrontations with abortion and affirmative action issues. Before joining the Court, the highlight of Powell's legal career was becoming President of the American Bar Association in 1964. Fine condition.