Flynt v. Ohio (1980)
- Docket
- 80-420
- Decided
- 1980-01-01
Summary
Question: Can the Supreme Court assume jurisdiction over a case that has not received final judgment? Conclusion: No. The Court issued a per curium opinion for the 5-4 majority in which it dismissed the previously granted writ of certiorari for a lack of jurisdiction. The Court noted that it normally reviews decisions that have received final judgment and that the ruling of the Supreme Court of Ohio was not a final judgment since it returned the case to the lower court and allowed the petitioners to provide further evidence relating to their discriminatory prosecution claim. Although the Court can disregard the final judgment requirement in cases where the refusal to review a lower court’s decision “might seriously erode federal policy;” in this case, the Supreme Court of Ohio’s ruling did not threaten to erode federal policy to the extent that review was necessary. Justice Potter Stewart wrote a dissenting opinion in which he argued that a criminal trial of the petitioners under the obscenity statute would undermine their First Amendment rights. Justice Stewart argued that this violation of rights was sufficient to dispose of the final judgment requirement. Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. and Justice Thurgood Marshall joined in the dissent. Justice John Paul Stevens wrote a separate dissenting opinion in which he argued that the interest in protecting magazine publishers from being prosecuted because their magazines’ content offends state officials is a significant First Amendment interest, sufficient to allow the Court to review.